Structural, optical, and ferromagnetic properties of Co-doped TiO2 films annealed in vacuum.

Polycrystalline anatase Ti1-xCoxO2 (x=0–0.06) films have been fabricated by sol-gel spin coating. The effects of Co doping on the structural, optical, and magnetic properties are investigated. It is shown that oxygen vacancies and/or defects in the films are generated during thermal treatment in vacuum. Co doping reduces crystal quality and inhibits crystalline grain growth. Due to the introduction of Co, photoluminescence (PL) spectra become weak and the band gap emission has a blueshift. PL spectra reveal that the solubility of Co is lower than 0.02. At 300 K, the saturated magnetization is around 1.8 μB/Co, which is independent of the concentration of Co. This value is approximately equivalent to the average magnetic moment of bulk metallic cobalt (1.75 μB/Co). Zero-field-cooling/field-cooling measurements indicate that room temperature ferromagnetism in Co-doped TiO2 films is not an intrinsic property of the material. The presence of Co metal is identified by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]