Impact of rare earth (Dy and Yb) ions doping on magnetic and optical properties of ZnO nanoparticles

Abstract

Dysprosium (Dy) doped ZnO and Ytterbium (Yb) doped ZnO nanoparticles were successfully synthesized by simple solution method. The structural, morphological, optical and magnetic properties of synthesized samples have been investigated by various techniques, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-absorption spectroscopy, photo luminescence spectroscopy, and vibrating sample magnetometer. X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed the formation of pure single phase with a particle size in the range of 20-31nm. Optical absorption studies demonstrates that the absorption edge of the Dy:ZnO and Yb: ZnO nanoparticles appeared to shift towards the longer wavelength due to the charge transfer between the ZnO valence or conduction band and rare earth ion 4f energy level. The band gap of the doped ZnO samples was found to be blue shift and it varies from 3.2eV-3.05eV due to the quantum confinement of the charge carriers in ZnO. M agnetic measurements studies indicates that Dy and Yb doped ZnO nanoparticles show weak ferromagnetic behavior at room temperature.