Structural, Optical and Magnetic Properties of Dy-doped In2O3 Nanoparticles
(In 1− x Dy x ) 2 O 3 ( x  = 0, 0.05, 0.10) nanoparticles with a particle size of 15–22 nm were obtained by an auto-combustion method. The powder x-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman and x-ray absorption near edge spectral (XANES) analysis revealed a cubic bixbyite structure (space group Ia-3). The presence of Dy 3+ ions in the In 2 O 3 host lattice was confirmed from XPS data. The high-resolution transition electron microscopic (HRTEM) and XANES revealed the single phase (solid solution) nature of the nanoparticles. The optical band gap was found to increase from 3.57 eV to 3.64 eV by doping Dy into the In 2 O 3 lattice. Photoluminescence spectra shows emission in the yellow region probably due to oxygen related vacancies. A weak ferromagnetic property was seen for Dy-doped In 2 O 3 at room temperature, while pure In 2 O 3 is diamagnetic. It seems that Dy:In 2 O 3 is not a suitable␣system to consider for dilute magnetic semiconductors in spintronic devices.