Room-temperature ferrimagnetic semiconductor 0.6FeTiO3∙0.4Fe2O3 solid solution thin films

The authors report on the fabrication of room-temperature ferrimagnetic semiconductor thin films composed of 0.6FeTiO3∙0.4Fe2O3 solid solution on α-Al2O3 (0001) substrates using a pulsed laser deposition method. A single ordered phase (R3¯ symmetry) is obtained under very limited deposition conditions including oxygen partial pressure of 2.0×10−3Pa and substrate temperature of 700°C. The thin film with the ordered phase is an n-type semiconductor and ferrimagnetic with the Curie temperature >400K. The Hall effect measurements at room temperature suggest that the carrier spins are polarized.