Abstract
Pure ZnO and 2 % Cr-doped ZnO nanoparticles were synthesized by sol–gel technique. Powder X-ray diffraction reveals that Cr incorporates into the ZnO crystal lattice without disturbing the original hexagonal structure. Transmission electron microscopy measurements show that the average size of these nanoparticles is in the range 20–25 nm. Pure ZnO nanoparticles exhibit diamagnetism while Cr-doped ZnO exhibit saturated hysteresis loop at room temperature indicating ferromagnetic behavior. Nitrogen co-doping along with Cr in ZnO shows enhanced ferromagnetism with small antiferromagnetism.
Highlights
Dilute magnetic semiconductors (DMS) have attracted extensive curiosity as they have potential applications in the emerging field of spintronics
Pure ZnO and 2 % Cr-doped ZnO nanoparticles were synthesized by sol–gel technique
We reported the synthesis of N and Cr co-doped ZnO nanoparticles by sol–gel technique
Summary
Abstract Pure ZnO and 2 % Cr-doped ZnO nanoparticles were synthesized by sol–gel technique. Dietl et al 2000 calculated theoretically that wide band-gap semiconductor (ZnO) having wurtzite structure that is doped with transition metals can be possible DMS material at room temperature. They observed paramagnetic behavior of Cr-doped ZnO nanoparticles synthesized using sol–gel method (Coey et al 2005).
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