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Optical and magnetic properties of doped ZnO: experimental and simulation

S. JANTRASEE1, P. MOONTRAGOON2,3, S. PINITSOONTORN2,3,*

Affiliation

  1. Materials Science and Nanotechnology Program, Faculty of Science, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand
  2. Integrated Nanotechnology Research Center, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand
  3. Nanotec-KKU Center of Excellence on Advanced Nanomaterials for Energy Production and Storage, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand

Abstract

In this work, the effects of Al-, Ga- and Co-doping in the ZnO system on its optical and magnetic properties are presented. The work is divided into the experimental and simulation sections. Firstly, nanosized powders of Zn1-xMxO (M = Al, Ga and Co, x = 0 and 0.03) were synthesized using a hydrothermal method. The XRD results showed that the resulting powders were of a single phase with a hexagonal structure. The morphology of the samples revealed by SEM and TEM showed that they are different in shape and size. The optical properties of the samples, measured using a UV-VIS technique, exhibited strong absorbtion spectra below 400 nm in the UV region. This is equivalent to the band gap energy in the range of 3.21- 3.97 eV. The type of dopants used have an influential effects on the absorbtion spectra. The magnetization curves at 300 K and 50 K were investigated using the VSM technique. The undoped ZnO and the Al- and Ga-doped ZnO exhibited only diamagnetic behavior whereas the Co-doped ZnO showed a combination of diamagnetism and ferromagnetism. Secondly, simulations were done using ABINIT software, which is based on density functional theory (DFT). The electronic structures (density of states) and the magnetic properties of the doped-ZnO were investigated using a PAW (projector-augmented plane wave) pseudopotential method within a local spin density approximation by the Hubbard model (LSDA + U). The optical and magnetic properties were extracted from the calculated results. Experimental and simulations results showed good agreement..

Keywords

Doped- ZnO, Optical properties, Magnetic properties, Density functional theory.

Submitted at: April 11, 2016
Accepted at: Nov. 25, 2016

Citation

S. JANTRASEE, P. MOONTRAGOON, S. PINITSOONTORN, Optical and magnetic properties of doped ZnO: experimental and simulation, Journal of Optoelectronics and Advanced Materials Vol. 18, Iss. 11-12, pp. 1033-1039 (2016)