Evidence of defect-induced ferromagnetism in ZnFe${}_2$O${}_4$ thin films

Abstract

X-ray absorption near-edge and grazing incidence X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy are employed to investigate the electronic structure of ZnFe${}_2$O${}_4$ thin films. The spectroscopy techniques are used to determine the non-equilibrium cation site occupancy as a function of depth and oxygen pressure during deposition and its effects on the magnetic properties. It is found that low deposition pressures below 10${}^{-3}$ mbar cause iron superoccupation of tetrahedral sites without Zn${}^{2+}$ inversion, resulting in an ordered magnetic phase with high room temperature magnetic moment.

Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. B

Cited by in corpus (4)

• Defect-Induced Magnetism in Solids
• Control of Magnetic Order in Spinel ZnFe${}_2$O${}_4$ Thin Films Through Intrinsic Defect Manipulation
• Interface magnetism and electronic structure: ZnO(0001)/Co3O4(111)
• Energy Eigenstates of Electrons, Magnons and Phonons in Fe${}_3$O${}_4$ (magnetite), MnFe${}_2$O${}_4$ (jacobsite), and mixed Mn-Zn ferrites