Polaronic transport and magnetism in Ag-doped ZnO

Magnetic polarons have been proposed to play important roles in doped wide band gap oxides that exhibit weak room temperature ferromagnetism. Here, we report the experimental evidence supporting polaronic magnetism and transport in Ag-doped ZnO. Temperature dependent resistivity data suggest the conduction mechanism of Mott and Efros variable range hopping. The observed weak ferromagnetism and its temperature dependence are explained using the percolation-based model of partially ordered bound magnetic polarons.