Synthesis and room temperature ferromagnetism in Fe-doped CuAlO₂ semiconductor

Abstract

The synthesis and characterization of Fe-doped CuAlO₂ semiconductor were reported. The samples were synthesized by a simple and cost effective spin-on technique from solid state reaction of Cu₂O and Al₂O₃ on sapphire (001) substrate. Appropriate ethyl-cellulose (EC) and terpineol are useful for the formation of Fe-doped CuAlO₂ films. X-ray diffraction (XRD) revealed the growth of pure delafossite CuAlO₂ phase ruled out elemental metallic Fe clusters in all the Fe incorporated CuAlO₂ films. The existence of ferromagnetism at room temperature is evidenced by well-defined hysteresis loops. Specially, the saturation magnetization (M _s) values at room temperature have been monotonously enhanced with the increase of Fe composition from 1% to 5%.

Keywords

Fe-Doped CuAlO₂ / delafossite structure / ferromagnetism

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