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Title: Magnetism switching and band-gap narrowing in Ni-doped PbTiO{sub 3} thin films

Journal Article · · Journal of Applied Physics
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4921459· OSTI ID:22410214
; ; ;  [1];  [2]
  1. Key Laboratory of Polar Materials and Devices, Ministry of Education, Department of Electronic Engineering, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241 (China)
  2. Instrumental Analysis and Research Center, Institute of Materials, Shanghai University, 99 Shangda Road, Shanghai 200444 (China)

Ions doping-driven structural phase transition accompanied by magnetism switching and band-gap narrowing effects has been observed in PbTi{sub 1−x}Ni{sub x}O{sub 3−δ} (xPTNO, x = 0.00, 0.06, and 0.33) thin films. With the increase of x, the xPTNO thin films exhibit not only a phase transition from the pseudotetragonal structure to a centrosymmetric cubic structure but also a drastic decrease of grain size. Moreover, the as-grown Ni-doped PbTiO{sub 3} (PTO) thin films show obvious room-temperature ferromagnetism and an increased saturation magnetization with increasing the Ni content, in contrast to undoped PTO, which shows diamagnetism. A bound magnetic polaron model was proposed to understand the observed ferromagnetic behavior of PTO-derived perovskite thin films. Furthermore, the 0.33PTNO thin film presents a narrowed band-gap, much smaller than that of PTO, which is attributed to new states of both the highest occupied molecular orbital and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital in an electronic structure with the presence of Ni. These findings may open up a route to explore promising perovskite oxides as candidate materials for use in multiferroics and solar-energy devices.

OSTI ID:
22410214
Journal Information:
Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 117, Issue 19; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English