Influence of Ni doping on magnetic behavior of Mn doped ZnO

Enhancement in room temperature ferromagnetism has been observed in Mn doped ZnO, when co-doped with Ni. In the co-doped system, Ni–O–Ni and Ni–O–Mn carrier mediated exchange interaction dominates the Mn–O–Mn exchange interaction which causes a fair increase in the value of saturation magnetization at room temperature. It is believed that the simultaneous doping of Ni and Mn onto ZnO increases the carrier concentration in form of clusters of oxygen vacancies and hence favors the carrier mediated exchange interaction for the enhancement of magnetic moments in the system.