Mechanics, Materials Science & Engineering, April 2017
ISSN 2412-5954
Ferromagnetic and Photoluminescence Properties of Fe doped Indium-TinOxide Nanoparticles Synthesised by Solid State Reaction26 Deepannita Chakraborty1, N. Madhusudhana Rao1,a, G. Venugopal Rao2, S. HainathBabu1, S. Kaleemulla1, C. Krishnamoorthi1 1
Centre for Crystal Growth, School of Advanced Sciences, VIT University, Vellore, Tamilnadu, India
2
Materials Physics Division, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam, Tamilnadu, India
a
drnmrao@gmail.com DOI 10.2412/mmse.47.72.37 provided by Seo4U.link
Keywords: Fe and Sn codoped Indium Oxide, Dilute magnetic semiconductors, antiferromagnetism.
ABSTRACT. Iron and tin codoped indium oxide (In0.90Sn0.05Fe0.05)2O3) nanoparticles were synthesized by solid state reaction. The synthesized nanoparticles were studied for their structural, surface, chemical, optical, magnetic and photoluminescence properties using respective characterization techniques. The XRD and FE-SEM images confirmed the nanosize of the particles. Raman studies indicated no structural changes in the indium oxide lattice after addition of Fe and Sn into the lattice. From magnetic studies it was observed that the Sn doped indium oxide nanoparticles were ferromagnetic. The ferromagnetic nature is destroyed after codoping of iron and tin in indium oxide lattice. Two broad emission peaks were observed in photoluminescence spectra.
Introduction. Currently the dilute magnetic semiconducting (DMS) materials are finding increased interest due to their potential as well as practical applications in the field of spintronics as well as exhibiting ferromagnetism at or above room temperature [1-4]. Till now many transition metal doped oxide semiconductors such as ZnO, TiO2, CeO2 and In2O3 were found to be exhibiting ferromagnetism at room temperature[5-7]. Among them, Indium oxides (In2O3) have high density of charge carriers, optical transparency and have low impact on the environment. Previous reports suggest that the decrease in crystal size of these oxides in the range of nanoparticles can lead to the change in their physical, chemical and optical properties [8, 9]. The decrease in crystal size can occur by doping the host lattice with another lattice having less ionic radii than the host. So In2O3 is doped with Sn as ionic radii of Sn is less than In. This leads to the formation of one of the best transparent conductive oxides (TCOs) namely indium-tin oxide (ITO). Generally, it has a lattice parameter of a= [10]. Consequently, ITO has high optical transparency, high electrical conductivity and high reflectance. ITO in the form of films has been used as transparent electrodes for flat-panel displays, electrochromic windows, solar panels and transparent coatings for solar-energy heat mirrors [11-14]. A large number of articles regarding transition metal doped In2O3 thin films have been published but there are rarely any reports on magnetic and photoluminescence properties of transition metal and tin codoped indium oxide nanoparticles having uniform sized particles [15, 16]. Experimental Details. Commercially available In2O3 (99.999%), SnO2 (99.99%) and Fe2O3 (99.99%) precursor powders were procured from Sigma-Aldrich (made in Germany) and were used as source materials. The ITO (In1.95Sn0.05O3) and (Fe:Sn) codoped In2O3 powder samples were prepared by mixing stoichiometric molar ratio of In2O3, SnO2 and Fe2O3 precursors in Agate mortar and pestle. The mixture was ground for 16 hrs to make it homogeneous fine powder which was then 26
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