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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.

This paper proposes a universal spin-dependent variable range hopping theoretical model to describe various experimental transport phenomena observed in wide-band-gap oxide ferromagnetic semiconductors with high transition metal concentration. The contributions of the 'hard gap' energy, Coulomb interaction, correlation energy, and exchange interaction to the electrical transport are considered in the universal variable range hopping theoretical model. By fitting the temperature and magnetic field dependence of the experimental sheet resistance to the theoretical model, the spin polarization ratio of electrical carriers near the Fermi level and interactions between electrical carriers can be obtained.

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.

The magnetism of Co1-xMnx alloys strongly depends on their structure and the Mn content.An ab initio linearized augmented plane wave (LAPW)method has been carried out to provide the electronic and magnetic structures for the fcc and bcc Co1-xMnx alloys with x=0.00,0.25,0.50,0.75 and 1.00. By increasing the Mn content,the magnetism of fcc Co1-xMnx alloys changes from ferromagnetism to ferrimagnetism,finally to antiferromagnetism;on the other hand, the magnetism of bcc Co1-xMnx alloys changes from ferromagnetism to ferrimagnetism.A good agreement is reached between out calculations and the previous experimental results.

The epitaxial growth crystal structure and magnetism of Co100-xMnx alloys grown on GaAs(001) substrate have been studied by using reflection high energy electron diffraction,X-ray diffraction and surface magneto-optic Kerr effect. For 0100-xMnx alloys.They show strong ferromagnetism.For 42100-xMnx alloy exists in bodycentered cubic(bcc)and face-centered cubic(fcc)phases respectively,and the coexistence of the bcc and fcc structures is observed in the middle stage.It is proved by using wedge samples that only the bcc phase contributes to the ferromagnetism.For x>78,the epitaxial alloys have fcc structure and show no Ferromagnetism.