Simultaneous regulation of photoabsorption and ferromagnetism of NaTaO3 by Fe doping

NaTa1-xFexO3 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.40) nanocubes were synthesized by a relatively low temperature hydrothermal method, using Ta2O5, FeCl3 and NaOH as the precursors. The UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra showed that NaTa1-xFexO3 had significant visible-light-absorbing capability, and the absorption edge of NaTaO3 shifted to longer wavelength with the increase of Fe dopants. Moreover, NaTa1-xFexO3 exhibited room-temperature ferromagnetism when Fe3+ occupied Ta5+ sites in NaTaO3 crystal lattice. The ferromagnetism is mainly attributed to the superexchange interactions between doped Fe3+, rather than the contribution of oxygen vacancies caused by Fe doping. Therefore, Fe doping can simultaneously regulate the optical and magnetic properties of NaTaO3 semiconductor, which will enable its potential applications in multifunctional optical-electronics and optical-spintronics devices.