Growth and physical properties of sol-gel derived Co doped ZnO thin film

Zn1−xCoxO films were grown on glass by sol-gel spin coating process. The Zn1−xCoxO thin films with 10 at.% Co were highly c-axis oriented. The electrical resistivity of the films at 10 at.% Co had the lowest value due to the highest c-axis orientation. XPS and AGM analyses indicated that Co metal clusters weren't formed, and the ferromagnetism was appeared at room temperature. The characteristics of the electrical resistivity and room temperature ferromagnetism of sol-gel derived Zn1−xCoxO films suggest a potential application to dilute magnetic semiconductor devices.