Resistive property and ferromagnetism in ZnO/PAA nanoporous composite films

ZnO nanoporous films are deposited on porous anodic alumina (PAA) substrates by DC-reactive magnetron sputtering. A significant ferromagnetism, accompanied by stable bipolar resistive switching behavior, was observed in as-prepared nanoporous composite films. It is demonstrated that the resistive and ferromagnetic behavior strongly depend on the oxygen vacancies. The magnetization of the films into the high resistance state is about three times larger than that in the as-prepared state, and was obtained in the low resistance state. The ferromagnetism of the films can be manipulated not only by preparation conditions, but by applying electric field. This oxide material with ferromagnetism and resistance hysteresis is very promising for research in next generation memory and spintronics devices.