Probing the magnetic profile of diluted magnetic semiconductors using polarized neutron reflectivity

Room temperature ferromagnetism has been observed in the Cu doped ZnO films deposited under an oxygen partial pressure of 10(−3) and 10(−5) torr on Pt (200 nm)/Ti (45 nm)/Si (001) substrates using pulsed laser deposition. Due to the deposition at relatively high temperature (873 K), Cu and Ti atoms diffuse to the surface and interface, which significantly affects the magnetic properties. Depth sensitive polarized neutron reflectometry method provides the details of the composition and magnetization profiles and shows that an accumulation of Cu on the surface leads to an increase in the magnetization near the surface. Our results reveal that the presence of the copper at Zn sites induces ferromagnetism at room temperature, confirming intrinsic ferromagnetism.