Condensed Matter Physics Seminar

2 p.m., Thursday, April 15, 2004
Room 1201, Physics Building

New Oxide Materials for Spintronics

Satish Ogale

(University of Maryland)

Abstract: New device concepts in the emerging field of spintronics have triggered a search for new ferromagnetic materials with novel physical properties. A significant effort is expended in this direction in trying to magnetize non-magnetic materials with interesting optical and electrical properties by doping such materials with magnetic impurities in dilute concentrations. Early research on such materials, the so called diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMS), has shown considerable promise, although a degree of confusion persists regarding the intrinsic or carrier-induced nature of ferromagnetism versus extrinsic effects due to impurity phases. The search for new functional ferromagnets has also led to enhanced interest and increased query into the so called Multiferroic materials which offer a combination and coupling of two or more functionalities including ferromagnetism.

In this talk, I will summarize and discuss the results of a number of studies carried out at the University of Maryland on materials such as Mn, Co doped ZnO, TiO₂, SnO₂, HfO₂, La_1-xSr_xTiO₃. I will also discuss results on single phase multiferroic systems such as BiFeO₃, GaFeO₃, and self-assembled nanostructures comprising of CoFe₂O₄ nanowires embedded in a BaTiO₃ matrix and Fe nanowires in a perovskite matrix.

This work is supported under NSF-MRSEC at Maryland DMR 00-80008 and also DARPA SpinS program.

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