Diluted Magnetic Nanosemiconductor: Fe-Doped ZnO Vertically Aligned Nanorod Arrays Grown by Hydrothermal Synthesis

Abstract

Room-temperature ferromagnetism (RTFM) was revealed in Fe-doped ZnO vertically aligned nanorod arrays grown by hydrothermal synthesis method. The evolution of RTFM properties and ZnO nanorod quality were studied by different growth temperature. At the growth temperature of 80 °C, the vertically aligned ZnO nanorods were well-formed, and Fe readily substituted for Zn in the ZnO nanorod arrays. The weak room temperature ferromagnetism of the Fe-doped ZnO nanorod arrays was determined by magnetization measurements. The morphology and quality of the Fe-doped ZnO nanorods were examined by many structure and composition analysis tools. The Fe atoms were found to be readily incorporated into the ZnO lattice without any precipitation or segregation of the secondary phase in the vertically aligned ZnO nanorod arrays.