Structural, optical, and magnetic properties of Mn-doped ZnO thin film

The Zn 1 − x Mn x O ( x = 0 , 0.16, and 0.25) thin films were grown on fused quartz substrates by reactive magnetron cosputtering. X-ray-diffraction measurement revealed that all the films were single phase and had wurtzite structure with c -axis orientation. As Mn concentration increased in the Zn 1 − x Mn x O films, the c -axis lattice constant and band-gap energy increased gradually. In Raman-scattering studies, an additional Mn-related vibration mode appeared at 520 cm − 1 . E 2 H phonon line of Zn 1 − x Mn x O alloy was broadened asymmetrically and redshifted as a result of microscopic structural disorder induced by Mn 2 + random substitution. The Zn 0.84 Mn 0.16 O film exhibited a ferromagnetic characteristic with a Curie temperature of ∼ 62 K . However, with increasing Mn concentration to 25 at. % , ferromagnetism disappeared due to the enhanced antiferromagnetic superexchange interactions between neighboring Mn 2 + ions.