Room temperature ferromagnetism in combustion reaction prepared iron-doped zinc oxide nanoparticles

Abstract

We present a study of the structural and magnetic properties of Zn1−xFexO (0.00≤x≤0.09) nanoparticles prepared by a combustion reaction method. X-ray diffraction patterns of all samples showed sharp and intensive peaks of hexagonal wurtzite structure of ZnO without any evidence of spurious crystalline phases in all samples. The magnetic properties were measured by using a vibrating sample magnetometer. Hysteresis loop indicated that all samples are ferromagnetic at room temperature and the Curie temperature increased with increasing iron content. Room temperature ferromagnetism can be explained in terms of intrinsic properties and the presence of defects in Fe- doped ZnO nanoparticles.