Synthesis, characterization and properties of Mn-doped ZnO nanocrystals

In this work ZnO and Mn-doped ZnO nanocrystals were synthesized by one-step aqueous solution method. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive x-ray (EDX) analysis and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy have been used to characterize the samples in detail. The XRD studies revealed that the ZnO and Mn-doped ZnO had wurtzite structure (hexagonal). The composition analysis by EDX indicated the presence of small amounts of Mn. A strong and wide ultraviolet emission has been observed for the ZnO and Mn-doped ZnO nanocrystals as evidenced by the photoluminescence spectra at a wavelength of 384 and 389 nm respectively. As-synthesized ZnO and Mn-doped ZnO nanocrystals have a good crystal quality. ZnO and Mn-doped ZnO nanocrystals show diamagnetism at room temperature.