Preparation of Fe Substituted ZnO Nanoparticles and Investigation of Their Magnetic Behaviors

Abstract

<em>Nano-powders of diluted magnetic semiconductor Zn_1-xFe_xO (0.0≤ x ≤0.1) were prepared via the sol-gel auto-combustion method. Crystal structure and phase identification carried out by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis. Mean crystallite size of the powders was estimated by Scherrer's formula. As M-H loops of the Fe substituted ZnO showed ferromagnetic behavior. The results of X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) showed that there is a mixture of Fe³⁺ and Fe²⁺ ions in all Fe substituted samples. Antiferromagnetic interaction between neighboring Fe³⁺-Fe²⁺ ions suppressed the ferromagnetic behavior of the samples at higher doping concentrations of Fe.</em>