Defects in paramagnetic Co-doped ZnO films studied by transmission electron microscopy

We study planar defects in epitaxial Co:ZnO dilute magnetic semiconductor thin films deposited on c-plane sapphire (Al2O3), as well as the Co:ZnO/Al2O3 interface, using aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy and electron energy-loss spectroscopy. Co:ZnO samples that were deposited usi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of applied physics 2013-12, Vol.114 (24)
Main Authors: Kovács, A., Ney, A., Duchamp, M., Ney, V., Boothroyd, C. B., Galindo, P. L., Kaspar, T. C., Chambers, S. A., Dunin-Borkowski, R. E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aluminum oxide
Applied physics
Defects
Density
Electron energy
Electron energy loss spectroscopy
Electrons
Energy transmission
Magnetic semiconductors
Magnetron sputtering
Pulsed laser deposition
Pulsed lasers
Sapphire
Stacking faults
Substrates
Thin films
Transmission electron microscopy
Zinc oxide
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Summary:We study planar defects in epitaxial Co:ZnO dilute magnetic semiconductor thin films deposited on c-plane sapphire (Al2O3), as well as the Co:ZnO/Al2O3 interface, using aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy and electron energy-loss spectroscopy. Co:ZnO samples that were deposited using pulsed laser deposition and reactive magnetron sputtering are both found to contain extrinsic stacking faults, incoherent interface structures, and compositional variations within the first 3–4 Co:ZnO layers next to the Al2O3 substrate. The stacking fault density is in the range of 1017 cm−3. We also measure the local lattice distortions around the stacking faults. It is shown that despite the relatively high density of planar defects, lattice distortions, and small compositional variation, the Co:ZnO films retain paramagnetic properties.
ISSN:0021-8979
1089-7550
DOI:10.1063/1.4851015