Preparation of Fe-doped ZnO ferromagnetic semiconductor by sol-gel method with hydrogen treatment

Zn(1-x)Fex(O) (x = 0.00, 0.01, 0.03, 0.05, 0.07, and 0.10) compounds were fabricated by the sol-gel method. The crystal structure and magnetic properties were investigated as a function of doped Fe concentration. Specifically, we have used hydrogen treatment for the control of phase separation. The X-ray diffraction patterns show that the wurzite structure of ZnO does not change for the doping range below x = 0.07. Furthermore, we could not find any Fe cluster or phase separation in the X-ray diffraction patterns. The Fe-doped ZnO indicate ferromagnetic behaviors with the Curie temperature higher than room temperature. Then, the magnetic moment per Fe atom increased with increasing Fe. concentration.