Investigation of Structural, Magnetic, and Optical Properties of ZnO Codoped with Co and Cd

• Main Authors: Lubna Mustafa, Safia Anjum, Salma Waseem, Rehana Zia, Rameesha Choudhry, Shahid M. Ramay, Asif Mahmood, Shahid Atiq, Salah Ud-Din Khan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hindawi Limited 2014-01-01
• Series: Advances in Condensed Matter Physics
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/362864
• ISSN: 1687-8108; 1687-8124

Co and Cd have been codoped in ZnO using a simple solid state reaction technique to synthesize dilute magnetic oxide semiconductors of composition Zn0.9Co0.1−xCdxO (x = 0.0-0.1 with an increment of 0.02). Hexagonal wurtzite structure has been obtained for samples up to x = 0.06, using X-ray diffractometry. However, at x = 0.08 and 0.1, secondary peak of CdO is observed. Raman spectra of the samples have been obtained in 200–800 cm−1 range. UV-VIS spectrophotometer is used to study the optical properties, which shows that band gap energy decreases with the increase in Cd concentration. A weak ferromagnetic behavior was evident which decreased further by adding Cd in the series. Room temperature resistivity measurements performed using four-point probe technique showed that their values lie in the semiconductor range. Structural morphology of the samples has been investigated by a scanning electron microscope and grain size has been determined. Raman spectra and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy revealed the successful incorporation of Co and Cd ions into the host ZnO lattice.