X-ray photoemission electron microscope determination of origins of room temperature ferromagnetism and photoluminescence in high co-content Co xZn1-xO films

In this paper, we reported on the X-ray photoemission electron microscope (XPEEM) determination of magnetic and luminescence origins for two Co _xZn_1-xO films. The cobalt fraction x of radio frequency co-sputtered samples were 0.86(2) and 0.92(2), respectively. Films were ferromagnetic and semiconductive. Unique narrow green color lines beside the ZnO intrinsic emissions were found with a decay time in microsecond range at room temperature. Origins of magnetic and luminescence properties were determined with XPEEM. The X-ray absorption near edge structure at the Co L ₃-edge denoted that Co was partially oxidized, and phase-contrast images together with chemical composition identification further proved that Co and CoO co-existed in the samples. The ferromagnetism was attributed to ferromagnetism of Co clusters partially canceled by the antiferromagnetism of its oxide, and the photoluminescence to bound exciton in ZnO nanoclusters and defect related centers of ZnO nanoclusters in a Co-rich matrix. Present results show possibilities for adjusting magnetic and luminescence properties of Co-ZnO compounds by changing the cobalt concentration.