Surfactant-induced enhanced room temperature ferromagnetism in Zn0.96Mn0.03Li0.01O nanoparticles: Prepared by solid-state pyrolitic reaction

We report the synthesis of nanoparticles of Zn0.96Mn0.03Li0.01O by a low-temperature solid-state pyrolitic reaction, followed by a surfactant-assisted calcination at 400 °C. The X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy analyses showed the formation of impurity free nanocrystals of Mn doped Li co-doped ZnO with wurtzite structure. XPS data revealed that Mn exists in +2 oxidation state. DC magnetization measurements as a function of field and temperature showed enhanced room temperature ferromagnetism for the surfactant-treated Zn0.96Mn0.03Li0.01O. FMR signal observed in the EPR spectrum further confirmed its ferromagnetic nature.