The Impact of Fe Doping on the Optical and Structural Properties of ZnFeS Fabricated by Electrodeposition Technique
OZOBIALU LYNDA ADAORA *
Department of Physics and Industrial Physics, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, P.M.B 5025, Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria.
EKPUNOBI AZUBUIKE JOSIAH
Department of Physics and Industrial Physics, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, P.M.B 5025, Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria.
OKOLI DONALD NNANYERE
Department of Physics and Industrial Physics, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, P.M.B 5025, Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria.
JEROH DIEMIRUAYE MIMI
Department of Physics and Industrial Physics, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, P.M.B 5025, Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria.
OKECHUKWU EMMA ODIKPO
Department of Physics and Industrial Physics, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, P.M.B 5025, Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria.
OVERCOMER ANUSIUBA
Department of Computer Science, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, P.M.B. 5025 Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria.
ADLINE NWODO
Magnetism and Magnetoscience Laboratory, Kagoshima University, Japan.
NONSO LIVINUS OKOLI
Nanoscience and Advanced Materials, Federal University of ABC, Santo Andre, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
AZUBOGU, AUGUSTINE C. O
Department of Electronics and Computer Engineering, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, P.M.B. 5025 Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria.
OKAFOR CHIEDOZIE
Department of Physics and Industrial Physics, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, P.M.B 5025, Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria.
MUOMELIRI CHUKWUDI BENJAMIN
Department of Physics and Industrial Physics, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, P.M.B 5025, Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria.
ONUIGBO E.
Department of Geological Sciences, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, P.M.B 5025, Anambra State, Nigeria.
ONU, CHIAMAKA PEACE
Department of Physics and Industrial Physics, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, P.M.B 5025, Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria.
UCHE EUNICE EKPUNOBI
Department of Pure and Industrial Chemistry, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, P.M.B 5025, Anambra State, Nigeria.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Dilute magnetic semiconductors (DMS) are semiconductor materials that are lightly doped with transition metals or rare earth metals. In this work, Fe doped ZnS thin films as a dilute magnetic semiconductor were successfully synthesized for different Fe concentration using electrodeposition technique. The precursor solution contains zinc acetate, thiourea and iron nitrate in the form Zn20-xFexS20, where x=4ml, 6ml and 8ml for different variation of concentration for the dopant. The films were characterized using the X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) spectrometer, UV-Vis spectrophotometer and X-ray diffraction technique to obtain the elemental composition, optical and structural properties respectively. The elemental composition shows the presence of Fe ion which indicated that ZnS was successfully doped with Fe. The average crystalline size from XRD data was found to be approximately 17nm and it was also observed that the films exhibit a crystalline structure evidenced from their sharp peaks. The band gaps of the materials were determined by drawing TAUC plots from their optical absorption spectra. The values of bandgaps obtained for Zn20-xFexS20 (x=0ml, 4ml, 6ml and 8ml) corresponds to 3.07eV, 2.50eV, 2.80eV and 2.74eV respectively.
Keywords: Dilute magnetic semiconductor, doping, electrodeposition, ferromagnetism