Influence of Ga doping on the Cr valence state and ferromagnetism in Cr: ZnO films.

The Zn0.97-xCr0.03GaxO (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.03) films have been prepared by inductively coupled plasma enhanced physical vapor deposition and investigated by soft x-ray absorption spectroscopy. The soft x-ray absorption spectroscopy results indicate Ga doping can substantially transform Cr3+ to Cr2+ and improve the average magnetic moment of Cr ions. The strong localization of carriers suggests the bound magnetic polarons scenario, wherein the reduced localization radius of variable range hopping by the enhancement of high valence state Cr ions can suppress the hopping probability of carriers and stabilize the bound magnetic polarons, leading to a monotonic increase in saturation magnetization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]