Tunable ferromagnetic behavior in Cr doped ZnO nanorod arrays through defect engineering

Zn vacancy (V Zn ) effects on the microstructure and ferromagnetism (FM) of Zn 0.94 Cr 0.06 O nanorod arrays have been investigated using a combination of experimental measurements and first-principles calculations. The well-aligned Zn 0.94 Cr 0.06 O nanorod arrays were synthesized by radio frequenc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of materials chemistry. C, Materials for optical and electronic devices Materials for optical and electronic devices, 2014-01, Vol.2 (16), p.2992-2997
Main Authors: Jin, C. G., Yang, Y., Wu, Z. F., Zhuge, L. J., Han, Q., Wu, X. M., Li, Y. Y., Feng, Z. C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Arrays
Chromium
Ferromagnetism
Mathematical analysis
Nanostructure
Vacancies
X-rays
Zinc
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Summary:Zn vacancy (V Zn ) effects on the microstructure and ferromagnetism (FM) of Zn 0.94 Cr 0.06 O nanorod arrays have been investigated using a combination of experimental measurements and first-principles calculations. The well-aligned Zn 0.94 Cr 0.06 O nanorod arrays were synthesized by radio frequency magnetron sputtering deposition at different substrate temperatures. The Cr K-edge X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results revealed that the Cr 3+ ions were located at the substitutional Zn sites. Moreover, the O K-edge XANES analysis and resonance Raman scattering indicated the existence of numerous V Zn . The stable FM observed at room temperature was an intrinsic property of Zn 0.94 Cr 0.06 O nanorod arrays. With increasing substrate temperature, improved crystallinity along with the increase in V Zn was observed in Zn 0.94 Cr 0.06 O nanorod arrays, and an enhancement of magnetic moment in the samples came forth. First-principles calculations revealed that the enhanced magnetism mainly comes from the unsaturated 2p orbitals of the surrounding O atoms, which is caused by the presence of the Zn vacancy. This research represents a novel promising route for tuning the magnetic behavior of nano-dilute magnetic semiconductor systems via V Zn changes.
ISSN:2050-7526
2050-7534
DOI:10.1039/C4TC00074A