Structure, optical, and magnetic properties of Mn-doped ZnO films prepared by sputtering

The microstructural, optical, and magnetic properties and room-temperature photoluminescence (PL) of Mn-doped ZnO thin films were studied. The chemical compositions were examined by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and the charge state of Mn ions in the ZnO:Mn films was characterized by X-ray photoelectronic spectrometry (XPS). From the X-ray diffraction (XRD) data of the samples, it can be found that Mn doping does not change the orientation of ZnO thin films. All the films prepared have a wurtzite structure and grow mainly along the c-axis orientation. The grain size and the residual stress were calculated from the XRD results. The optical transmittance of the film decreases with the increase of manganese content in ZnO. The room-temperature photoluminescence of the films shows that the intensity of near band energy (NBE) emission depends strongly on the Mn content. The hysteresis behavior indicates that the films with the Mn content below 9at% are ferromagnetic at room temperature.