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MnO nanoparticles as the cause of ferromagnetism in bulk dilute Mn-doped ZnO

Type of publication Peer-reviewed
Publikationsform Original article (peer-reviewed)
Author Lancon Diane, Nilsen Goran J., Wildes Andrew R., Nemkovski Kirill, Huang Ping, Fejes Dora, Ronnow Henrik M., Magrez Arnaud,
Project Quantum Magnetism - Checkerboards, Skyrmions and Dipoles
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Original article (peer-reviewed)

Journal APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS
Volume (Issue) 109(25)
Page(s) 252405
Title of proceedings APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS
DOI 10.1063/1.4972956

Open Access

URL https://infoscience.epfl.ch/record/225888?ln=fr
Type of Open Access Repository (Green Open Access)

Abstract

We show that the observed ferromagnetic behavior of ZnO lightly doped with Mn coincides with the presence of MnO nanoparticles, whereas cluster-free Mn doped ZnO behaves paramagnetically. This conclusion is reached by a study of the structural and magnetic properties of powdered samples of (Mn-x, Zn1-x) O with x <= 0.033 using polarized neutron scattering. Two types of samples were synthesized via, respectively, a solid state method and the decomposition of hydrozincite. Further characterization has been performed using standard X-ray diffraction and magnetization measurements. The results show evidence for the formation of MnO nanoparticles in the highest doped samples for both synthesis methods, with a ferromagnetic behavior attributed to uncompensated Mn2+ in the MnO nanoparticles. The lower Mn-doped samples showed no evidence for structural segregation or magnetic correlations and showed only a paramagnetic behaviour. Published by AIP Publishing.
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