ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the properties of transition metal doped ZnO thin films. Transition metal species are known to have very low solubility in host III-V materials, but the problem was overcome by non-equilibrium epitaxial growth using low temperature molecular beam epitaxy. The magnetic stability of transition metal doped ZnO was calculated using density functional theory within the framework of the local density approximation. At a critical temperature, the overlapping bound magnetic polarons are percolated throughout the sample and the transition to ferromagnetism occurs. At the experimental level, there has been a wide distribution in the magnetic properties reported for transition metal doped ZnO. The field of spintronics has attracted much attention because of its potential to provide new functionalities and enhanced performance in conventional electronic devices. Oxide materials provide a convenient platform to study the spin-based functionality in host semiconducting material.
