Abstract
Zn0.95Mn0.05O nanostructures were synthesized using sol gel derived autocombustion technique. As-burnt samples were thermally annealed at different temperatures (400, 600, and 800°C) for 8 hours to investigate their effect on structural morphology and magnetic behavior. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopic studies demonstrated the improvement in crystallinity of phase pure wurtzite structure of Mn doped ZnO with variation of annealing temperature. Energy dispersive X-ray elemental compositional analysis confirmed the exact nominal compositions of the reactants. Electrical resistivity measurements were performed with variation in temperature, which depicted the semiconducting nature similar to parent ZnO after 5 at% Mn doping. Magnetic measurements by superconducting quantum interference device detected an enhanced trend of ferromagnetic interactions in thermally annealed compositions attributed to the improved structural morphology and crystalline refinement process.
Highlights
Diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMSs) have attracted a great deal of interest in recent years due to their applications in modern spintronic devices [1, 2]
One of the major thrusts in ongoing research is the formation of phase pure DMS materials and achievement of ferromagnetism with reasonable magnetization [3, 4]
Several investigations have been reported by various research groups to synthesize phase pure transition metals (TMs) doped ZnO DMSs [7,8,9]
Summary
Diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMSs) have attracted a great deal of interest in recent years due to their applications in modern spintronic devices [1, 2]. One of the major thrusts in ongoing research is the formation of phase pure DMS materials and achievement of ferromagnetism with reasonable magnetization [3, 4]. Theoretical investigations suggest that semiconductors with wide band-gaps are the most potential candidates for this purpose [5, 6]. Several investigations have been reported by various research groups to synthesize phase pure transition metals (TMs) doped ZnO DMSs [7,8,9]. Mn doped ZnO have been prepared to explore their potential applications in spintronic devices and biomedicine by exploiting their unique magnetic and antibacterial properties [10].
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