Exploring the magnetic ground state of vanadium doped zinc sulphide

Abstract

Abstract Vanadium doped ZnS quantum dots (QDs) were synthesized with the generic formula Zn 1– x V x S (where x = 0, 0.05, 0.10 and 0.15). Polyvinylpyrrolidone capped QDs were prepared by chemical co-precipitation technique. The phase purity of the samples were confirmed by x-ray diffraction. Crystallite size of 1.7–2.2 nm was obtained from the Scherrer’s formula. Optical absorption studies revealed a band gap varying from 3.9 to 4.1 eV. Photoluminescence studies revealed a strong blue shift due to the strong quantum confinement in the particles. Magnetic studies indicated a ferromagnetic ground state for the doped samples.