Room temperature ferromagnetism in Mn doped ZnO: Co nanoparticles by co-precipitation method

In this present work, the Mn2+ and Co2+ ions doping and co-doping effect on the structural, vibrational, morphological, optical and magnetic behaviors of ZnO based dilute magnetic semiconductors are reported. The Zn0.95Co0.05O (ZC), Zn0.95Mn0.05O (ZM) and Zn0.90Co0.05Mn0.05O (ZCM) samples were prepared by co-precipitation method. From the XRD analysis, it was observed that on the doping of Mn2+ ion in ZnO matrix, decreases their crystalline nature as well as the crystallite size significantly. The Raman spectra, Photoluminescence and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy measurements reveal that the presence of defects in prepared samples. The UV-DRS spectroscopic exhibits the incorporation of dopant ions and their effect on the band gap subsequently. The magnetization measurements suggest the room temperature ferromagnetism (RTFM) in the prepared samples. The observed RTFM phenomenon was discussed based on the defects and grain confinement.