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High quality Co-doped ZnO thin films are grown on single crystalline Al2O3(0001) and ZnO(0001) substrates by oxygen plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy at a relatively lower substrate temperature of 450°C. The epitaxial conditions are examined with in-situ reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED) and ex-situ high resolution x-ray diffraction (HRXRD). The epitaxial thin films are single crystal at film thickness smaller than 500 nm and nominal concentration of Co dopant up to 20%. It is indicated that the Co cation is incorporated into the ZnO matrix as Co2+ substituting Zn2+ ions. Atomic force microscopy shows smooth surfaces with rms roughness of 1.9 nm. Room-temperature magnetization measurements reveal that the Co-doped ZnO thin films are ferromagnetic with Curie temperatures TC above room temperature.

We investigate the variations from as-deposited Zn1−xCoxO magnetic semiconductors to the post-annealed Co–ZnCoO granular composite. The as-deposited Zn1−xCoxO magnetic semiconductor deposited under thermal non-equilibrium conditions is composed of Zn1−xCoxO nanograins of high Co concentration. The room-temperature ferromagnetism with high magnetization and large negative magnetoresistance are found in the as-deposited samples. By annealing, the samples become of granular composite consisting of the Co metal grains and the remanent Zn1−xCoxO matrix. Although the magnetization is enhanced after annealing, the spin-dependent negative magnetoresistance disappears at room temperature. The magnetoresistance observed in the annealed samples in the high field region has no relation with the ferromagnetism, which in turn indicates that the room-temperature ferromagnetism and large negative magnetoresistance observed in the as-deposited are the intrinsic properties of the Zn1−xCoxO magnetic semiconductor.

We prepare 2×(NiFe/CoZnO)/ZnO/(CoZnO/Co)×2 spin valve structures used for spin injection by sputtering and photolithography. In the junctions, the free magnetic layer 2×(NiFe/CoZnO) and the fixed magnetic layer (CoZnO/Co)×2 are used to realize the spin valve functions in the external switch magnetic field. Since the wide gap semiconductor ZnO layer is located between the two magnetic semiconductor layers CoZnO, the electrical spin injection from the magnetic semiconductor CoZnO into the non-magnetic semiconductor ZnO is realized. Based on the measured magnetoresistance and the Schmidt model, the spin polarization ratio in the ZnO semiconductor is deduced to be 11.7% at 90 K and 7.0% at room temperature, respectively.

Fe-doped In2O3 films are grown epitaxially on YSZ (100) substrates by pulsed laser deposition. The in-situ reflection high-energy electron diffraction, the atomic force microscopy, and the x-ray diffraction patterns show that the films have a well defined cubic structure epitaxially oriented in the (100) direction. Room temperature ferromagnetism is observed by an alternating gradient magnetometer. Strong perpendicular magnetic anisotropy with a remnant magnetization ratio of 0.83 and a coercivity of 2.5kOe is revealed. Both the structural and the magnetic measurements suggest that this ferromagnetism is an intrinsic property deriving from the spin-orbit coupling between the diluted Fe atoms.