Antiferromagnetic interaction between paramagnetic Co ions in the diluted magnetic semiconductor ZnCoO

Kobayashi, Masaki*; Ishida, Yukiaki*; Hwang, J. I.*; Osafune, Yoshitaka*; Fujimori, Atsushi*; Takeda, Yukiharu   ; Okane, Tetsuo  ; Saito, Yuji  ; Kobayashi, Keisuke*; Saeki, Hiromasa*; Kawai, Tomoji*; Tabata, Hitoshi*

The magnetic properties of ZnCoO (x=0.07 and 0.10) thin films, which were homoepitaxially grown on a ZnO(0001) substrates with varying relatively high oxygen pressure, have been investigated using X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) at Co 2p core-level absorption edge. The magnetic-field and temperature dependences of the XMCD intensity are consistent with the magnetization measurements, indicating that except for Co there are no additional sources for the magnetic moment, and demonstrate the coexistence of paramagnetic and ferromagnetic components in the homoepitaxial ZnCoO thin films. The analysis of the XMCD intensities using the Curie-Weiss law reveals the presence of antiferromagnetic interaction between the paramagnetic Co ions. Missing XMCD intensities and magnetization signals indicate that most of Co ions are nonmagnetic probably because they are strongly coupled antiferromagnetically with each other.