Effects of Ti content on the structural and the magnetic properties of ZnCrO:Ti (Cr: 1 at.%, Ti: 0 - 0.8 at.%) thin films

We investigated the effects of the Ti content on the structural and the magnetic properties of ZnCrO:Ti thin films (Cr: 1.0 at.%, Ti: 0 - 0.8 at.%). The samples were prepared by co-sputtering of ZnCrO and Ti and showed the Ti solution limit to be ~0.3 at.%. When the Ti additives were doped with an appropriate concentration less than the solution limit, the magnetic properties of the films were improved due to the increased magnetic moments from Ti²⁺ ions (i.e., 3d₂4s₀). For the samples doped with large amounts of Ti dopants over the solution limit, however, the magnetization was gradually degraded due to the formation of metastable TiO₂ and ZnCrTiO having no spins (i.e., 3_d04s₀).