Effect of crystallization quality on ferromagnetism in Zn_{1 - x}Co_xO nanopowders

In this paper, a series of Zn_{1 - x}Co_xO nanocrystals with different cobalt percentages were fabricated by a simple chemical method, which were intensively explored for spintronics applications. X-ray diffraction (XRD), ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectrophotometer, transmission electron microscope (TEM) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) were used to characterize the structures and magnetic properties of prepared samples. It was concluded that Co²⁺ was well inserted into ZnO wurtzite structure. The ferromagnetism of Zn_{1 - x}Co_xO nanopowders was observed at room temperature. The relation between crystallization quality and magnetism of Zn_{1 - x}Co_xO nanopowders was discussed in detail. It was demonstrated the crystallization quality of Zn_{1 - x}Co_xO nanocrystals had a strong effect on the ferromagnetism.