Study of structural, optical and magnetic properties of hydrogenated Ni and (Ga, Zn) co-doped SnO2 nanocomposites

Abstract

Tin oxide (SnO2) co-doped with 3%Ni - 5%Ga and 3%Ni - 5%Zn nanocomposites were manufactured by a co-precipitation method. The samples were characterized by several methods. Energy dispersive x‐ray fluorescence, X‐Ray Diffraction, UV–visible absorption spectroscopy, and magnetization measurements were performed to study the elemental analysis, crystal structure, optical band gap and magnetic properties, respectively. The present research is planned to investigate the conditions necessary to fabricate the dilute magnetic semiconductor, SnO2 of nanocomposites. It was found that the hydrogenation of the host samples is a necessary action that should be processed to create ferromagnetic properties. The effect of doping of non-magnetic Ga3+ and Zn2+ ions on the generated magnetic properties in the hydrogenated Ni-doped SnO2 nanopowder was investigated and reported. The optical bandgap of the SnO2 nanopowders was studied by diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) and found it was redshifted with Ni, Ga, and Zn doping. The higher magnetic energy observed with Ni and Ga codoped SnO2 was reported and discussed.