Room temperature d0 ferromagnetism in ZnS nanocrystals

Room temperature ferromagnetic semiconductors have a great deal of advantage because of their easy integration into semiconductor devices. ZnS nanocrystals (NCs), bulk, and surfaces exhibit d0 ferromagnetism at room temperature. The experiments reveal that NC ferromagnetism takes place at low and room temperatures only due to Zn vacancies (S vacancies do not contribute). To understand the mechanism of d0 ferromagnetism, we introduce the surface-bulk model of a nanocrystal, which includes both surface and bulk magnetizations. The calculations demonstrate that the surface has the higher than bulk magnetization. We find the mechanism of the ferromagnetism is due to sulfur s- and p-electrons in a tetrahedral crystal field. The bulk magnetic moment increases with Zn vacancy concentration at small concentrations and then goes down at larger concentrations. A surface magnetic moment behaves differently with the concentration. It is always a monotonically rising function. We find that the total NC magnetic moment increases with the size and concentration of Zn vacancies (only low concentrations). We also study the magnetization per unit cell where we find that it decreases for the surface and increases for bulk magnetism with the NC size.This work was supported by a Grant (No. DEFG02- 10ER46728) from the Department of Energy to the University of Wyoming and the University of Wyoming School of Energy Resources through its Graduate Assistantship program