Ferromagnetism in ZnO nanowires derived from electro-deposition on AAO template and subsequent oxidation

Abstract

A room-temperature ferromagnetism in ZnO nanowires derived from electro-deposition on anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) template and subsequent oxidation was reported through a controlled synthesis process. The Zn nanowires were annealed at different temperatures with a constant duration and it was found that the intensity of the peak of Zn (200) is much stronger than other peaks. The magnetization for pure Zn nanowires is found to decrease with the increase in the annealing duration and disappeared after annealing for 40 hr. It is also found that none of the point defects lead to ferromagnetism, while the room temperature ferromagnetism could be attributed to the formation of Zn nanoclusters embedded in ZnO matrix. The abnormal Hall effect (AHE) curve indicates that ZnO film with Zn clusters is an n-type magnetic semiconductor.