Ferromagnetism above room temperature in bulk and transparent thin films of Mn-doped ZnO

The search for ferromagnetism above room temperature in dilute magnetic semiconductors has been intense in recent years. We report the first observations of ferromagnetism above room temperature for dilute (<4 at.%) Mn-doped ZnO. The Mn is found to carry an average magnetic moment of 0.16 μB per ion. Our ab initio calculations find a valance state of Mn2+ and that the magnetic moments are ordered ferromagnetically, consistent with the experimental findings. We have obtained room-temperature ferromagnetic ordering in bulk pellets, in transparent films 2–3 μm thick, and in the powder form of the same material. The unique feature of our sample preparation was the low-temperature processing. When standard high-temperature (T > 700 °C) methods were used, samples were found to exhibit clustering and were not ferromagnetic at room temperature. This capability to fabricate ferromagnetic Mn-doped ZnO semiconductors promises new spintronic devices as well as magneto-optic components.