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In2O3 is multifunctional material with rich physical phenomena. In this paper, effects of Fe and Cu doping on the physical properties of In1.95-xCr0.05MxO3 (M = Fe, Cu) thin films prepared by sol-gel method followed by spin-coating technique were investigated. The films were characterised using X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV–vis spectrophotometer, Hall effect, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and vibrating sample magnetometer. Doping with Cu reduced the lattice parameter and optical transmittance of In1.95-xCr0.05MxO3 films more than that with Fe. In addition, Cu doping induced p-type conductivity in In1.95-xCr0.05MxO3 films. Optical band gap was increased from 3.76 eV for In1.95Cr0.05O3 to ~ 3.8 eV for both Cu- and Fe-doped films, which was attributed to quantum confinement behaviour. Average grain size measured using TEM was reduced from 8.2 nm for In1.95Cr0.05O3 to 6.6 and 5.6 nm for Fe and Cu doped films, respectively. Saturation magnetisation of films was reduced with Fe doping more than that with Cu doping. Magnetic behaviours of films were explained within the framework of bound magnetic polaron model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The full potential linearized augmented plane wave method of density functional theory has been used to investigate the structural, electronic, magnetic and thermoelectric properties of cubic perovskites BaVO and LaVO. The ferromagnetic ground state has been found to be stable by comparing the total energies of non-spin-polarized and spin-polarized calculations performed for optimized unit cells. For both compounds, the bond length and tolerance factor are also measured. From the band structures and density of states plots, it is found that both compounds are half-metallic. We found that the presence of V at the octahedral site of these perovskites develops exchange splitting through p-d hybridization, which results in a stable ferromagnetic state. The observed exchange splitting is further clarified from the magnetic moment, charge and spin of the anion and cations. Finally, we also presented the calculated thermoelectric properties of these materials, which show that half-metallic BaVO and LaVO materials are potential contenders for thermoelectric applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]