Abstract
Pure and Mn-doped colloidal ZnO particles were prepared in a solvo-thermal via sol–gel process by base-catalyzed hydrolysis of zinc acetate. We have studied the structural, magnetic and optical properties of the samples using X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray analysis, superconducting quantum interferometer device and UV–Vis spectroscopy. The XRD spectra show that all the samples are hexagonal wurtzite structures. The calculated average particle size of the samples was approximately 7–3 nm, indicating that the particle size decreased by doping with manganese. Magnetic investigations showed that at room temperature the Mn-doped ZnO possessed ferromagnetism with the saturation magnetic moment of 0.194 emu/g. The room temperature PL measurements illustrate UV-emission centered at 351 nm (3.53 eV), which is ascribed to the near-band-edge emissions of ZnO, violet emission at 512 nm (2.42 eV). The UV–Vis spectra showed a blue-shift from 3.42 to 3.78 eV when the ZnO doped with manganese.
Highlights
Oxide-based dilute magnetic semiconductors (DMS) have attracted considerable attention because of the possibility of incorporating ferromagnetism in a semiconducting oxide
We have studied the structural, magnetic and optical properties of the samples using X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray analysis, superconducting quantum interferometer device and UV–Vis spectroscopy
Field (Oe) Fig. 7 Magnetization of Mn-doped ZnO nanoparticle as a function of field measured at room temperature
Summary
Oxide-based dilute magnetic semiconductors (DMS) have attracted considerable attention because of the possibility of incorporating ferromagnetism in a semiconducting oxide. The metal oxide, ZnO, a wideband-gap semiconductor with a large exciton binding energy of 60 meV at room temperature, is an exceptionally important material for the envisaged applications in many technologies, such as solar energy conversion and optoelectronic devices (Hammad et al 2010). Much experimental and theoretical research is focused on DMS based on transition metals (TM), such as Mn, Ni and Co-doped ZnO, because of their expected potential applications in future spintronics (Bauer et al 2001). In these systems, the origin of ferromagnetism remains an issue of debate, and there is a great deal of controversy over the origin of ferromagnetism. Most of the previous investigations have focused on thin films and bulk, and there are much less reports on
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