Magnetic properties of cobalt and manganese doped ZnO nanowires

The study focuses on synthesis and characterization of transition-metal doped zinc oxide (Zn1-xMxO), which has been theoretically predicted to be ferromagnetic at room temperature. Although this system has been under experimental study for some time, the vast majority of research conducted on this material has been done on bulk crystals or thin films. There are very few reports on the fabrication of one-dimensional nanostructures of Zn1-xMxO, and all of these syntheses employ high-temperature, vapor-phase methods. While this approach has proven quite effective for the production of a multitude of nanoscale semiconductors, gas-phase synthesis have considerable limits on nanowire yield and reaction scalability. We present the synthesis and characterization of cobalt- or manganese-doped zinc oxide (Zn1-xCoxO and Zn1-xMnxO) nanowires grown from a solution phase synthesis. The article reports the structural and magnetic characterization of the nanowires, the effect of annealing on secondary phase precipitation and on magnetic properties. The dopant concentration was determined by EDX (Energy Dispersive X-ray) spectroscopy, the dopant distribution by EDX and EPR (Electron Paramagnetic Resonance).