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5-at% Mn-doped and undoped BaTiO3 thin films have been grown under different oxygen partial pressures by Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) on platinum-coated sapphire substrates. X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements for all the thin films reveal a similar polycrystalline single-phase perovskite structure. Ferroelectricity is observed in the Mn-doped and undoped BaTiO3 thin films grown under relatively high oxygen partial pressure. Ferromagnetic coupling of the Mn dopant ions, on the other hand, is only seen in Mn-doped BaTiO3 thin films prepared under low oxygen partial pressure in a wide temperature range from 5 K to 300 K, and is attributed to the enhanced exchange coupling between Mn dopants and electrons at oxygen vacancies. Our results show that the leakage current is decreased with the doped Mn, but increases the dielectric loss and decreases the dielectric constant, and the ferroelectricity is impaired. To produce ferromagnetism, oxygen vacancies are necessary, which unfortunately increase the leakage current. This confirms that the mutual interplay between the ferroelectricity and ferromagnetism can be tuned by exchange coupling of the doped-Mn and oxygen vacancies in the BaTiO3 thin films.

Due to its potential application to diluted magnetic oxides, transition metal doped ZnO has been under intensive investigation. We present a correlation between the structural and the magnetic properties of Fe implanted ZnO bulk crystals. Crystalline damage recovery, structural and magnetic properties are studied by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry and channelling (RBS/C), synchrotron radiation X-ray diffraction (SR-XRD), and superconducting quantum interference device magnetometer (SQUID), respectively. The 623 K Fe ion implantation and the high vacuum annealing at 823 K lead to the formation of secondary phase -Fe and -Fe nanoparticles. The discrepancy between the zero-field cooling and the field cooling curves further indicates that Fe-implanted ZnO is superparamagnetic and the observed ferromagnetism originates from the Fe nanoparticles.