Abstract
Diluted magnetic semiconductors are of great interest in spintronic applications due to the involvement of both spin and charge. We have investigated effect of calcination on structural and magnetic properties of cobalt doped zinc oxide nanoparticles prepared by sol-gel method. Cobalt doped ZnO nanoparticles are calcined at different temperatures ranging from 100 degrees C to 500 degrees C. X-ray diffraction analyses (XRD) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) was used to characterize the calcined cobalt doped ZnO nanoparticles. XRD results confirm the formation of hexagonal wurtzite structure of the calcined cobalt doped ZnO. Decrease in crystallite size (34 to 27.7 nm) is observed with increasing calcination temperature. Shrinkage in lattice parameters has been observed with calcination temperature. Ferromagnetic behavior was observed with increase in saturation magnetization till calcination temperature of 300 degrees C. (C) 2015 Published by Elsevier Ltd.