Synthesis and Characterization of Nanostructured Zno Dilute Magnetic Semiconductor: Insight of the Role of Mg and Mn-Impurity

Abstract

This study employed the nebulizer spray pyrolysis (NSP) technique to synthesize pure ZnO, Mg-doped ZnO, and Mn-doped ZnO nanostructured thin layers at 400°C on a glass substrate. The impact of Mg²⁺ and Mn²⁺ ion doping concentration on ZnO's microstructural optical and magnetic properties was studied. X-ray diffraction results showed the formation of polycrystalline ZnO with hexagonal wurtzite structure and (002) plane as the preferred orientation. The crystallite size has decreased from 29.899 nm to 20.891 nm with the addition of Mg²⁺ and Mn²⁺ ions. Raman spectra show that the intensity of vibrational modes increased with the effect of doping. All prepared thin layers exhibited high transmission, around 85% in visible regions. The band gap energy increases slightly from 3.28 to 3.31 eV. Hysteresis loop confirms the ferromagnetic properties of the samples.