Structural, magnetic and electronic structure studies of Mn doped TiO2 thin films

Abstract

We report structural, magnetic and electronic structure study of Mn doped TiO2 thin films grown using pulsed laser deposition method. The films were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), dc magnetization, X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) and near edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy measurements. XRD results indicate that films exhibit single phase nature with rutile structure and exclude the secondary phase related to Mn metal cluster or any oxide phase of Mn. Magnetization studies reveal that both the films (3% and 5% Mn doped TiO2) exhibit room temperature ferromagnetism and saturation magnetization increases with increase in concentration of Mn doping. The spectral features of XMCD at Mn L-3,L-2 edge show that Mn2+ ions contribute to the ferromagnetism. NEXAFS spectra measured at O K edge show a strong hybridization between Mn, Ti 3d and O 2p orbitals. NEXAFS spectra measured at Mn and Ti L-3,L-2 edge show that Mn exist in +2 valence state, whereas, Ti is in +4 state in Mn doped TiO2 films. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.