Room temperature ferromagnetism in Nd doped ZnS diluted magnetic semiconductor nanoparticles

• Nanoparticles of ZnS:Nd were synthesized at 300 K by chemical route.
• Structural, Raman, optical and magnetization studies were carried out.
• All the doped samples exhibited dopant induced room temperature ferromagnetism.
• This is the first ever magnetic report on ZnS:Nd nanoparticles.

Nanoparticles of ZnS:Nd (0, 2 and 4 at%) were synthesized by a chemical co-precipitation method at 300 K using PEG as capping agent. The effect of Nd doping on the structural, optical and magnetic properties of ZnS nanoparticles was investigated. EDAX spectra confirmed the presence of Zn, Nd and S in the samples. X-ray diffraction studies showed that all the samples exhibited the expected zinc blende structure. Raman studies revealed the cubic structure and absence of impurities in the undoped and Nd doped ZnS nanoparticles. TEM studies indicated that the particles were a few nm (<10 nm) in size. Reflectance measurements showed a decrease in band gap with increasing Nd concentration. Magnetic measurements showed that the undoped ZnS was diamagnetic whereas all the doped samples were ferromagnetic at room temperature. Thus the present studies show that ZnS:Nd nanoparticles may find applications in spintronic devices. This is the first ever magnetic report on ZnS:Nd nanoparticles.