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book of abstracts - IM2NP

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A B S T R A C T S FRIDAY, JULY 2 N A N O S E A 2 0 1 0<br />

11H20-11H40<br />

Local structure at substitutional Mn2+ ions in small cubic ZnS nanocrystals<br />

self-assembled into a mesoporous structure.<br />

S. V. Nistor*, M. Stefan, L. C. Nistor, D. Ghica, N. J. Barascu and C. D. Mateescu<br />

(National Institute <strong>of</strong> Materials Physics, Atomistilor 105bis, POB MG 7, Magurele-Ilfov, 077125 Romania).*<br />

snistor@infim.ro.<br />

Due to the high potential <strong>of</strong> applications based on outstanding optical and photocatalytic properties, cubic<br />

ZnS nanocrystals activated with transition ions, in particular Mn2+, were between the first investigated II-VI<br />

semiconductor nanocrystals. Despite intensive research, the Mn2+ impurities localization in the nanocrystals<br />

core is still unclear. Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) investigations reported the unexpected<br />

presence <strong>of</strong> an axial crystal-field (CF) at the substitutional Zn2+ sites <strong>of</strong> normal cubic symmetry and a large<br />

range <strong>of</strong> values for the associated D-parameter. Determining accurate spectra parameters, essential for<br />

explaining the origin <strong>of</strong> a possible non-cubic local CF, requires well resolved EPR spectra, not available in<br />

the previously investigated nanocrystalline powders.<br />

We have prepared by a surfactant-assisted liquid-liquid reaction at room temperature a sponge-like<br />

mesoporous structure self-assembled from nanocrystals <strong>of</strong> cubic ZnS doped with Mn2+ ions (cZnS:Mn) [1].<br />

The resulting tight size distribution around 2 nm <strong>of</strong> the cZnS:Mn nanocrystals and the improved EPR spectra<br />

resolution, with the narrowest lines reported so-far, were attributed to the restraining effect <strong>of</strong> selfassembling<br />

[2]. The full analysis, with dedicated s<strong>of</strong>tware, <strong>of</strong> the EPR spectra recorded at low and high<br />

microwave frequencies confirmed the presence, besides the cubic parameters also found in cubic ZnS single<br />

crystals, <strong>of</strong> an axial CF component described by the parameter |D| = 41x 10-4 cm-1, attributed to the<br />

localization <strong>of</strong> the Mn2+ ions in the nanocrystals core next to an extended planar defect, as a stacking fault<br />

or twin. The proposed local structure is supported by earlier EPR results in strongly defective cZnS single<br />

crystals [3] and by our High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM) study which shows<br />

that ~ 30% <strong>of</strong> the investigated cZnS:Mn nanocrystals contain such extended planar defects.<br />

The improved quality <strong>of</strong> the cZnS:Mn nanocrystals self-assembled into a mesoporous structure did allow us<br />

to conclude, based on a correlated EPR and HRTEM investigation, that Mn2+ impurities are preferentially<br />

localized in the core <strong>of</strong> the cZnS:Mn nanocrystals at Zn2+ sites situated next to a stacking fault or twin. It<br />

also suggests that doping <strong>of</strong> Mn2+ ions in small cZnS:Mn and possibly in other cubic II-VI semiconductor<br />

nanocrystals is assisted by the extended planar defects. Such an extended lattice defects assisted (ELDA)<br />

incorporation mechanism can also <strong>of</strong>fer a valid explanation for the high concentration <strong>of</strong> impurity ions, such<br />

as Mn2+ or Co2+, observed in cubic II-VI nanocrystals grown at low temperatures.<br />

[1]. S. V. Nistor, L. C. Nistor, M. Stefan et al. Superlattices and Microstructures 16, 306 (2009).<br />

[2]. S. V. Nistor, L. C. Nistor, M. Stefan et al. Rom. Rep. Phys. (2010) (in press).<br />

[3]. M. F. Bulanyi, A. V. Kovalenko and B. A. Polezhaev, J. Appl. Spectr. 69, 747 (2002) and ref. cited therein<br />

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