Sol-gel derived Zn1-xFexS diluted magnetic semiconductor thin films: Compositional dependent room or above room temperature ferromagnetism

Zn1-xFexS (where x = 0.00, 0.01, 0.03, 0.05, 0.1 and 0.2) thin films were synthesized by sol-gel method. To investigate the origin of room or above room temperature ferromagnetism in these films several tools such as XRD, SEM, XPS, UV-Vis spectrophotometer and SQUID magnetometer were used. The XRD studies showed that the phase singularity of ZnS zinc blende (hexagonal) structure. The SEM images indicated the homogeneous film surface with no cracking and increased particle size with increasing Fe-doping ratio except for 1 at.% Fe dopant. The presence of Zn, Fe, S, Si and O atoms in the films was observed in EDS spectrum. The XPS studies confirmed that the existence of Fe3+ ions in host ZnS thin films. In the UV-Vis measurements the band gap energy corresponding to the absorption edge was estimated to be approximately in the range of 3.59-2.08 eV, depending on the Fe doping level. The magnetization measurements revealed that the films had paramagnetic or ferromagnetic order depending on Fe doping ratio at 5, 100, 200, 300 and 350 K. The observed room or above room temperature ferromagnetism can be attributed to the strong p-d exchange interaction between Fe3+ d and anion (S2-) p orbitals as well as impurities. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.