Magnetic and electronic properties of Sn1–xCrxO2 diluted alloys

We present the results of first-principles electronic structure calculations of Sn0.96Cr0.04O2 alloys, simulating chromium in rutile tin dioxide as an impurity in a diluted magnetic semiconductor configuration. A magnetic bistability has been observed, with the occurrence of a low-spin state with magnetic moment m = 0μB in addition to the high-spin ground state with m = 2μB. When an oxygen vacancy is included, as one of the nearest-neighbors to Cr impurity, a remarkable change is observed in the magnetic metastability. The energy barrier for the crossover from the low-spin to high-spin is lowered by 75%. These findings suggest that these materials may be used in applications which require different magnetized states.