Mn concentration-dependent tuning of Mn2+ d emission of Zn1-xMnxTe nanocrystals grown in a glass system

We studied the effect of Mn concentration on the optical, morphological and magnetic properties of Zn1-xMnxTe NCs grown in a glass matrix produced by the fusion method. The physical properties of these materials were determined by optical absorption (OA), transmission, electron microscopy (TEM), atomic/magnetic force microscopy (AFM/MFM) and photoluminescence (PL). An analysis of the OA spectra, based on the crystal field theory (CFT), showed strong evidence that Mn2+ ions were substitutionally incorporated into the Zn1-xMnxTe NCs until reaching the solubility limit (concentration, x = 0.100). Above this nominal concentration, TEM showed the onset of Mn-related phases, such as MnO and alpha-MnO2, in the PZABP glass system. AFM images showed that NC density on the surface of the glass matrix decreased as x-content increased. It is probable that MnO and MnO2 NCs would outnumber Zn1-xMnxTe NCs at higher concentrations a conclusion that was corroborated by the OA spectra and TEM images. MFM images revealed that samples with Mn2+ ions responded to magnetization from an MFM probe. This implied that Mn2+ ions were incorporated within the Zn1-xMnxTe NCs and gave rise to the diluted magnetic semiconductor (DMS) structure. The PL spectra not only confirmed the evidence obtained by OA, CFT, TEM and AFM/MFM, but also showed that Mn2+ concentration could be used to tune T-4(1)((4)G) -> (6)A1(S-6) emission energy.