Oxide Based Dilute Magnetic Semiconductor- A Brief Review

Abstract

Dilute magnetic semiconductors (DMS) play an important role in interdisciplinary materials science. Out of this oxygen based DMS this system has been the subject of intense research for Enhancement of magnetic property as well as the Curie temperature. In this system the charge and spin degrees of freedom are accommodated into single matter and their interplay is expected to explore novel physics and new devices. Rare earth oxides have become a interesting field of study for their interesting properties as well as their versatile applications in different fields. Recently the various physical properties, viz., optical (absorption spectra, IR spectra, Raman spectra), magnetic, thermal and hyperfine properties of rare earth oxides have been reported. The various 3d transition metal ion (e.g., Fe, Ni, Co etc) which has also high value of magnetic moment, has been doped in different rare earth oxides, in recent years and it is reported that there is an enhancement in the magnetization. Doping of 3-d metal ion in different rare earth oxide and other semiconducting oxide system can be interesting for the enhancement of magnetization. From the viewpoint of DMS, there may be strong ferromagnetic exchange coupling between localized spins due to carrier induced ferromagnetism and double exchange interaction when localized spin is introduced in the oxide semiconductor.