Room temperature ferromagnetism in metal oxides for spintronics: a comprehensive review

• Published in: Optical and quantum electronics 2023-02, Vol.55 (2), Article 123
• Main Authors: Singh, Sundar, Kumar, Veerendra, Tyagi, Sanjeev, Saxena, Nupur, Khan, Zishan H., Kumar, Pragati
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Computer Communication Networks; Doping; Electrical Engineering; Electron spin; Ferromagnetism; Lasers; Magnetic semiconductors; Metal oxides; Optical Devices; Optics; Photonics; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Room temperature; Spintronics
• ISSN: 0306-8919; 1572-817X
• DOI: 10.1007/s11082-022-04325-z

This review presents a comprehensive account of the research scenario in the ferromagnetic (FM) behavior displayed at room temperatures (RT) in the metal oxides (MOx) for spintronics applications. Spintronic devices need simultaneous manipulation of charge and spin of the electron and the material needed for the fabrication of such devices must show the existence of FM behavior at or above RT. This article discusses the induction of room temperature FM (RTFM) behavior in MOx via doping and co-doping of magnetic and non-magnetic ions. The semiconductor doped with magnetic ions (usually up to maximum 10%) are well known as dilute magnetic semiconductors (DMSs) whereas they are known as d 0 FM materials with doping of non-magnetic ions. This review mainly focuses on the MOx based DMSs. The various mechanisms and models for the induction of RTFM in such systems are discussed followed by their advantages and drawbacks along with their technological applications. However, a short discussion on RTFM behaviors of d 0 materials is also presented. Further, the influence of various morphologies on RTFM behavior of MOx followed by the RTFM in 2D- MOx is also discussed.