Combinatorial laser MBE synthesis of 3d ion doped epitaxial ZnO thin films

Combinatorial laser MBE (CLMBE) method was employed to fabricate epitaxial ZnO thin films doped with all the 3d transition metal ions, The solubility behavior of 3d ions was studied from the viewpoints of ionic radius and val ence state. Transmission spectra were classified into four groups with resp ect to the absorption edge shifts and d-d electron transitions. Mn2+ and Co 2+ ions show very high solubility limits among all the 3d ion species and h ave high spin electron configurations in ZaO matrix. Such a high throughput synthesis tool as CLMBE is shown to be a powerful tool for exploring novel functionality of thin film materials. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All r ights reserved.