Comparative study of room-temperature ferromagnetism in Cu-doped ZnO nanowires enhanced by structural inhomogeneity

Abstract

A study presented a comparative report of room-temperature ferromagnetism (RTFM) in Cu-doped ZnO nanowires (NW) prepared by two distinct approaches. The two distinct synthesis routes were designed to produce different levels of structural inhomogeneity. Tuning the structural and electronic characteristics, in addition to the dopant concentration, should be an effective means to modify the ferromagnetic properties of NWs. The study also showed that the alteration of the electronic structure induced by impurities and defects play an important role in the appearance of the observed magnetism. Further studies on selection of appropriate material combinations, developing new doping strategies, and optimizing the efficiency of spin injection will also pave the way to use diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMS) nanowires as building blocks in spintronic devices.