Magnetic and Magnetization Properties of Co-Doped Fe2O3 Thin Films

Amongst the various phases of iron oxide, hematite (Fe₂O₃) is the most stable form, which shows antiferromagnetic behavior with ferromagnetic canting at room temperature. Doping of different metal ions in α-Fe₂O₃ will not only lead to its new technological and industrial applications but also enhance its performance in existing applications. In this paper, we report synthesis and characterization of cobalt (Co)-doped Fe₂O₃ thin films with dopant concentration in the range of 0%-10%. XRD peaks shift to slightly higher angles as compared with undoped thin films due to smaller ionic radii of cobalt (72 pm) as compared with iron (74 pm). Room temperature magnetic properties, studied using vibrating sample magnetometer, show increase in saturation magnetization with increase in dopant concentration up to 8%. Further increase in dopant concentration to 10% degrades magnetic properties, which might be because of the presence of more atoms at the grain boundaries.