Novel Magnetism and Band Gap Tailoring in N-doped CdS:Cr Nanocomposites for Optomagnetic Applications

Abstract

Nitrogen and chromium co-doped cadmium sulfide nanocomposites (NCps) were successfully synthesized using a simple co-precipitation method (Cpm). To evaluate their structural attributes, X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, conducted with X’pert high score plus software, confirmed the composite nature and established their particle size within the nano range, measuring between 1 to 1.6 nm. Further characterization, employing Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) confirms the presence of Cr and N. The energy dispersive X- ray spectroscopy (EDX) provided compelling evidence of the integration of chromium and nitrogen into the CdS host matrix. An interesting outcome of the UV-VIS diffused reflectance spectra (DRS) analysis was the significant blue shift observed in the band gap resulting from the introduction of chromium, accompanied by a Burstein-Moss effect, leading to a red shift as the nitrogen concentration increased. The intense green light emission witnessed in photoluminescence (PL) studies was associated with the trapping of nitrogen and Cr2+ within F- centers. Moreover, vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) investigations unveiled distinct magnetic behaviors of the nanocomposites, particularly at low magnetic fields. These findings reveal a potential for tailoring band gaps and presenting novel magnetic properties, which could hold substantial promise for applications in optomagnetic and spintronic smart devices.