Structural, Optical and Magnetic Properties of ZnS Co-doped with Cd and Fe

Cd and Fe co-doped nano ZnS samples (Zn0.75-xFexCd0.25S) are prepared by thermolysis method. The effect of Fe doping content on the structural parameters, infrared absorption bands and the energy gap of Zn0.75Cd0.25S are investigated using Rietveld analysis for synchrotron X-ray diffraction data, Fourier transform infrared and UV-Vis spectroscopy. The energy gap first decreases upon doping then it increases with further Fe-doping. The photoluminescence spectroscopy reveals that the emitted colors for Zn0.75-xFexCd0.25S are dependent on the excitation wavelengths and the amount of Fe-doping. Magnetization measurements indicate that Zn0.75Cd0.25S possess a diamagnetic behavior while Zn0.55Fe0.2Cd0.25S exhibits a weak ferromagnetic nature with small coercivity and saturation magnetization obtain from the law of approach to saturation.