Microstructural, Electrical and Magnetic Properties of Erbium Doped Zinc Oxide Single Crystals

We report the structural, electrical and magnetic properties of erbium (Er) implanted zinc oxide (ZnO) single crystals. Rutherford backscattering and channeling results showed that the majority of Er atoms resided in Zn substitutional lattice sites. Annealing led to a fraction of Er atoms moving into random interstitial sites. Transmission electron microscopy micrographs revealed that doped Er atoms were located in the near-surface region, consistent with the results obtained from DYNAMIC-TRIM calculations. A non-linear Hall-voltage was observed near 100 K, which is associated with inhomogeneous transport in the material. The Er implanted and annealed ZnO exhibited persistent magnetic ordering to room temperature. Ferromagnetism was likely from the presence of intrinsic defects in ZnO, which mediates the magnetic ordering in Er implanted and annealed ZnO.