Formation of precipitates in Mn doped ZnO layers deposited by magnetron sputtering

Abstract The precipitation of Mn rich phases in ZnO layers deposited by magnetron sputtering has been investigated as well as the precipitates influence on the magnetic properties. On top of sapphire (0001) substrates, the formation of Mn rich precipitates is observed following the deposition of Zn(Mn)O layers above 500 °C, the size of the precipitates is shown to increase with the Mn concentration. For Zn(Mn)O layers deposited on GaN in similar conditions, no precipitates have been seen to form, however the quality of layers highly improved when the temperature was brought down to 500 °C. At this optimal temperature, the measured magnetic properties are best in layers deposited on both substrates, such layers do not contain any of the observed Mn rich precipitates. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)