We present a systematic study of the magnetic properties of semiconducting ZnFe$_2$O$_4$ thin films fabricated by pulsed laser deposition at low and high oxygen partial pressure and annealed in oxygen and argon atmosphere, respectively. The magnetic response is enhanced by annealing the films at 250$^{\circ}$C and diminished at annealing temperatures above 300$^{\circ}$C. The initial increase is attributed to the formation of oxygen vacancies after argon treatment, evident by the increase in the low energy absorption at $\sim$ 0.9 eV involving Fe$^{2+}$ cations. The weakened magnetic response is related to a decline in disorder with a cation redistribution toward a normal spinel configuration. The structural renormalization is consistent with the decrease and increase in oscillator strength of respective electronic transitions involving tetrahedrally (at $\sim$ 3.5 eV) and octahedrally (at $\sim$ 5.7 eV) coordinated Fe$^{3+}$ cations.

中文翻译：

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通过固有缺陷操纵控制尖晶石 ZnFe2O4 薄膜的磁性

我们系统地研究了半导体 ZnFe$_2$O$_4$ 薄膜的磁性能，该薄膜通过脉冲激光沉积在低氧分压和高氧分压下分别在氧气和氩气气氛中退火。通过在 250$^{\circ}$C 下对薄膜进行退火来增强磁响应，并在高于 300$^{\circ}$C 的退火温度下减弱磁响应。最初的增加归因于氩气处理后氧空位的形成，这通过涉及 Fe$^{2+}$ 阳离子的 $\sim$ 0.9 eV 处的低能量吸收增加而明显。减弱的磁响应与无序度下降有关，阳离子重新分布为正常尖晶石构型。