Magnetic and electronic structure properties of Co-doped SnO2 nanoparticles synthesized by the sol-gel-hydrothermal technique

Abstract

Structural, magnetic and electronic properties of Co-doped SnO 2 nanoparticles sample with the concentration of 3.37% synthesized by the sol-gel-hydrothermal technique are studied in detail with experiments and ab initio calculations. Room temperature ferromagnetism is observed in this dilute magnetic semiconductor. Secondary phases and clusters of cobalt are excluded according to XRD, HRTEM, Raman, and XPS analyses. Magnetic measurements demonstrate the coexistence of ferromagnetism and paramagnetism in this sample, which is explained reasonably through our ab initio calculations in Co-doped SnO 2 system. © 2011 American Institute of Physics.