Indication of intrinsic room-temperature ferromagnetism in Ti1−xCoxO2−δ thin film: An x-ray magnetic circular dichroism study

Soft x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) measurements at the Co L2,3 edges of Co-doped rutile TiO2 at room temperature revealed clear multiplet features characteristic of ferromagnetic Co2+ ions coordinated by O2− ions, being in sharp contrast to the featureless XMCD spectrum of Co metal or metallic clusters. The absorption and XMCD spectra agree well with a full atomic-multiplet calculation for the Co2+ high-spin state in the D2h-symmetry crystal field at the Ti site in rutile TiO2. The results indicate that the ferromagnetism arises from the Co2+ ions substituting the Ti4+ ions.