Optical and Magnetic Properties of Fe Doped ZnO Nanoparticles Obtained by Hydrothermal Synthesis

Abstract

Diluted magnetic semiconductors Zn 1− x Fe x O nanoparticles with different doping concentration ( x = 0, 0.01, 0.05, 0.10, and 0.20) were successfully synthesized by hydrothermal method. The crystal structure, morphology, and optical and magnetic properties of the samples were characterized by X‐ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS), high‐resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), Raman scattering spectra (Raman), photoluminescence spectra (PL), and the vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The experiment results show that all samples synthesized by this method possess hexagonal wurtzite crystal structure with good crystallization, no other impurity phases are observed, and the morphology of the sample shows the presence of ellipsoidal nanoparticles. All the Fe 3+ successfully substituted for the lattice site of Zn 2+ and generates single‐phase Zn 1− x Fe x O. Raman spectra shows that the peak shifts to higher frequency. PL spectra exhibit a slight blue shift and the UV emission is annihilated with the increase of Fe 3+ concentration. Magnetic measurements indicated that Fe‐doped ZnO samples exhibit ferromagnetic behavior at room temperature and the saturation magnetization is enhanced with the increase of iron doping content.