High-temperature ferromagnetism of Ni-doped PbPdO₂ nanograin films synthesized by sol-gel spin-coating method

The single-phase Ni-doped PbPdO₂ films with a body-centered orthorhombic structure were synthesized by the sol-gel spin-coating method and an oxidation treatment. The films with a thickness of about 440 nm were found to have a nanograin structure and large amount of Pb vacancies. The valence states of Ni and Pd ions within the Ni-doped PbPdO₂ films were very close to 2+, while the Pb ions exhibited a mixed valence between 2+ and 4+. The existence of Pb vacancies and the low electronegativity of Pb²⁺ ion resulted in the increase of the valence of Pb ions. The analysis of the magnetic properties indicated that the magnetisms of the single-phase Ni-doped PbPdO₂ nanograin films were all composed of the ferromagnetism and the paramagnetism. The ferromagnetism enhanced with the calcination temperature increasing and could be retained up to 380 K. A carrier-mediated mechanism bridged to the bound magnetic polaron model based on the Pb vacancies, the doped Ni ions and the Pb ions with a valence higher than 2+ were used to explain the magnetic origin of these Ni-doped PbPdO₂ nanograin films.