Ferromagnetism in Li doped ZnO nanoparticles: The role of interstitial Li

Abstract

ZnO nanoparticles doped with Li (Zn1−yLiyO, y ≤ 0.1) have been investigated with emphasis on the correlation between their magnetic, electronic, and structural properties. In particular, defects such as interstitial Li and Zn atoms, substitutional Li atoms, and oxygen vacancies have been identified by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and their respective roles in stabilization of the magnetic moment are discussed. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and XPS give clear evidence of Li presence at both substitutional and interstitial sites. XPS studies further show that the amount of substitutional Li defects (Lizn) and interstitial Li defects (Lii) vary non-monotonically with the Li concentration, with the Lii defects being noticeably high for the y = 0.02, 0.08, and 0.10 concentrations, in agreement with the XRD results. Magnetization studies show room temperature ferromagnetism in these nanoparticles with the moment being largest for the particles with high concentration of interstitial lithium and vice versa. Both interstitial Zn (Zni) defects and Zn-O bonds were determined from the Zn LMM Auger peaks; however, the variation of these with Li concentrations was not large. Oxygen vacancies (Vo) concentrations are estimated to be relatively constant over the entire Li concentration range. We relate the Lii and Zni defects to the formation and stabilization of Zn vacancies and thus stabilizing the p-type ferromagnetism predicted for cation (zinc) vacancy in the ZnO type oxides.