Properties of (Zn,Cr)Te semiconductor deposited at room temperature by magnetron sputtering

Abstract

We report the fabrication of (Zn,Cr)Te films at room temperature by magnetron sputtering. Various structural and elemental characterizations revealed there was only a zinc blende phase from the ZnTe host and Cr atoms were distributed uniformly in these films. The magnetization measurement by superconducting quantum interference device magnetometer clearly showed that the samples were ferromagnetic at low temperatures with Curie temperature around 150 K. The magnetic circular dichroism measurements confirmed that the observed ferromagnetism was originated from the interaction of substitutional Cr ions and ZnTe host. Transport measurement revealed typical semiconductor behaviors with the large negative magnetoresistance observed. © 2008 American Institute of Physics.