Iron doped ZnO nanocrystals and their structural, optical and magnetic behavior

This present investigation deals with the synthesis of Fe doped ZnO nanocrystals by chemical method of microwave irradiation technique and the special attention is given to structural, optical and magnetic behavior. The X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed the single phase ZnO wurtzite structure without any impurity or secondary phase formation. The shifting of [1 0 1] peak in the higher angle side is due to the smaller cation of Fe3+ than Zn leads to the change in lattice parameters. The formation of metal oxide bond at 450 cm−1 is confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectrum and the Raman modes ∼324 cm−1, 432 cm−1 and 564 cm−1 correspond to ZnO is identified by micro Raman spectrum. The band gap energy of the samples increases with the increase of Fe concentration due to the increase of crystal size. The ZFC–FC curve confirms the absence of Curie temperature below 350 K. The room temperature magnetization measurement shows the paramagnetic behavior in all samples.