Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 February 2011
Thin films of Co-doped In2O3 diluted magnetic semiconductor have been grown on c-plane sapphire single crystals using pulsed laser deposition technique. Different characterizations such as x-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, and magneto-transport have been carried out to study the effect of growth temperature on structural, electrical, and magneto-transport properties of these films. Crystalinity of the films increases with the growth temperature. The films grown at high temperature have preferred orientation along (222) direction, while films grown at low temperature behave more like to nanocrystaline. It is observed that electrical properties of the films strongly depend on growth temperature. The resistivity and magnetoresistance of the films decreases with increase in growth temperature. On the other hand, mobility of the films increases with increase in growth temperature. This could be due to improvement in crystalinity of the films.