Magnetic properties of Fe and Co codoped SnO2 prepared by sol-gel method

SnO2 codoped with Fe and Co was prepared using the sol-gel method. Compared with SnO2 doped with only Fe or Co, the ferromagnetic saturation magnetization of the codoped SnO2 was enhanced because of the lattice distortion induced by codoping. Mossbauer spectra consist of two paramagnetic doublets and one broad sextet of high-spin Fe(III) species. The Mossbauer spectra revealed that the magnetic sextet with broad peaks is drastically modulated by doping with 0.5%-3% Co and 1% Fe codoped SnO2. Our experimental results suggest correlation between the enhancement of the saturation magnetization and the appearance of sextet peaks. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3651468]