Laser annealing induced ferromagnetism in SrTiO3 single crystal

The appearance of ferromagnetic order up to 400 K upon KrF (248 nm) laser irradiation is reported in un-doped SrTiO3 (STO) single crystal. The high resolution x-ray photo emission spectroscopy (XPS) measurements reveal a strong shift of Sr-, Ti-, and O-related peaks. X-ray diffraction of laser annealed STO does not reveal a signature of either secondary magnetic or amorphous phases. 300 K X-band (∼9.543 GHz) angle-dependent electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) measurements showed no evidence of additional magnetic peaks upon laser irradiation. XPS and EPR data did not provide a strong evidence of Ti3+ formation upon laser annealing. No differences in the visible 300 K Raman spectra of pristine and laser annealed STO are noticed. Interestingly, the magnetic moment is decreased by almost 10-fold upon oxygen annealing of laser annealed STO, inferring that oxygen vacancies play an important role in establishing the observed ferromagnetism.