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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.

Magnetic multilayers [Co-Nb(1.5 or 3.6 nm)/Pd(x nm)]40 were fabricated by radio frequency sputtering synthesis. The structures and magnetic properties of the Co-Nb/Pd multilayers were studied by x-ray diffraction, vibrating sample magnetometer, torque magnetometer and ferromagnetic resonance measurements. The oscillatory dependence of the phase structure, the strain, the ferromagnetic interlayer coupling and the spacer polarization of multilayers on the increase of Pd spacer thickness was observed. The relationship among phase structure, strain, interlayer coupling and the polarization of Pd spacers was discussed. The magnetic polarization of Pd spacers will enhance the ferromagnetic coupling between magnetic layers and will restrain antiferromagnetic coupling to occur. The spin-dependent electron transport along the normal direction of multilayers and its exchange interaction play key roles in causing these oscillatory behaviors.

Magnetic multilayers [Co(1.5 nm)/Pd(x nm)]40 grown by rf sputtering were studied by x-ray diffraction, vibrating sample magnetometer, torque magnetometer and magnetoresistance measurements. The dependences of the interfacial roughness and the structure perfectness of Co/Pd multilayers on the spacer Pd layer thickness have been revealed from x-ray diffraction data. An oscillatory variation of saturation magnetization versus the thickness of the Pd spacer was observed. A similar oscillatory behavior in the dependence of its magnetic anisotropy on the thickness of the Pd spacer was observed. It is suggested from these two phenomena that the magnetic polarization of Pd spacers oscillates between ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic polarization with the increase of Pd spacer thickness under a RKKY-like interaction. Evidence is found for the antiferromagnetic polarization of the inner-part of the Pd spacer. The antiferromagnetic coupling between two Co layers and giant magnetoresistance effect in Co/Pd multilayer system were not observed. The relationship among structure, interlayer coupling and magnetic polarization effect of the Pd spacer was discussed.

An oscillatory behavior in specific saturation magnetization of Fe/Pd multilayers is observed. The conversion electron Mossbauer spectroscopy and other experiments indicate that this behavior is caused by the magnetic polarization of Pd spacers, which alternates between positive and negative polarization with respect to the magnetic moments of Fe layers. The interlayer coupling between two Fe layers always keeps ferromagnetic. Then, the interlayer couplings in ferromagnetic metal/nearly ferromagnetic metal multilayers were calculated by using the model of Barnas. The results of calculation prove that the above phenomenon might appear under some condition. The influence of magnetic polarization potential of spacers and interface chemical potential on the interlayer couplings is also discussed.

[ZnO(0.5 nm)/Co(0.6 nm)]60 multilayers were fabricated by magnetron sputtering. The magnetic, transport and optical properties were studied. The ferromagnetic state at low temperature was demonstrated. Most of the grains in the samples will be unblocked when temperature is below 50 K. The measured magneto-resistance at 4.8 K is higher than 30%. This value is larger than any other reported data. The transport mechanism may come down to a combination of tunnelling conduction with the second-order hopping. Some small peaks on transmittance curves were found, the matter is still open.

We give a brief introduction to the oxide (ZnO, TiO2, In2O3, SnO2, etc.)-based magnetic semiconductors from fundamental material aspects through fascinating magnetic, transport, and optical properties, particularly at room temperature, to promising device applications. The origin of the observed ferromagnetism is also discussed, with a special focus on first-principles investigations of the exchange interactions between transition metal dopants in oxide-based magnetic semiconductors.

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.

Zn1−xFexO inhomogeneous oxide magnetic semiconductor films with high Fe concentration are prepared by sputtering, and fast annealing is carried out at different temperatures. It is found that magnetic properties are greatly modulated by controlling the composition inhomogeneity and subsequently fast annealing. Both ferromagnetic and paramagnetic components are found to coexist in the as-deposited Zn1−xFexO magnetic semiconductor. In particular, the antiferromagnetic coupling between the neighbouring local ferromagnetic regions is found in the as-deposited Zn0.23Fe0.77 O film, and the antiferromagnetic coupling strength increases with increasing temperature from 110 K to 300 K. We believe that this unusual antiferromagnetic coupling is mediated by thermally activated hopping carriers.

Spin density wave in organic ferromagnets with open ends was studied and the results were compared with that in a closed organic ferromagnet ring. It was found that an end-open chain structure is unfavorable for the formation of the ferromagnetic ground. The competition of electron-electron interactions and the π-electron-radical spin couplings and their different effect on the SDW in the main chain were discussed.