Optical and magnetic resonance investigations of Zn1-xMnxO

Zn1-xMnxO crystallites were synthesized by hydrothermal method. X-ray diffraction, UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy, and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra confirm the substitution of Zn site by Mn2+ ion. The nonmonotonic variation of band gap exhibits that the short-ranged interactions between the d electrons of Mn and the s and p electrons of the host bands are dominated at lower Mn concentration (x). EPR spectra show that Mn2+ is in exchange interaction at higher x. By using a Curie-Weiss equation on the EPR data, it is found that the dominant magnetic property is antiferromagnetic for higher x, and paramagnetic for lower x. (C) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.