Structural, optical and magnetic properties of dilute magnetic semiconductor of Zn1-xNixO thin films for spintronic devices

Co-precipitation method is used to create various compositions of the bulk sample of Zn1-xNixO (x = 0, 0.02, 0.04, 0.06, 0.08, and 0.1). By using an electron beam approach, the required coatings were deposited onto extremely clean glass substrates. The current study examines the structural and optical, characteristics of Ni-doped ZnO thin films. The creation of the hexagonal wurtzite single phase of ZnO was revealed by X-ray diffraction, and it had a strong (002) peak with a peak shift towards a lower angle. It was discovered that the films' crystallite size shrank as the Ni content rose. Investigations were done into how Ni dopant affected the produced thin films' optical and magnetic properties. The optical energy gap decreases from 3.28 to 2.90eV with increasing Ni content. In addition, ferromagnetism increases with increasing Ni concentration at expense of Zn in Zn1-xNixO films . The changes in the optical and magnetic properties of the prepared films were discussed based on the structural modification, which, further, enhances upon Ni-doping.