Morphology, optical and magnetic properties of Zn1−xNixO nanorod arrays fabricated by hydrothermal method

Zn1−xNixO (x = 0, 0.05, and 0.1) nanorod arrays were prepared by hydrothermal method. Morphology and structure analysis indicate that the nanorods have single-crystalline wurtzite structure, and no metallic Ni or NiO phase exists. Room temperature ferromagnetism (RTFM) was observed in the Zn0.9Ni0.1O nanorods. In addtion, photoluminescence spectra of Zn1−xNixO (x = 0, 0.05, 0.1 and 0.2) samples exhibit near band edge UV emissions and orange-red emissions. And the orange-red emission is confirmed to have originated from the interstitial oxygen defects.