Sonochemical synthesis of doped CeF₃ nanoparticles exhibiting room temperature ferromagnetism and white light emission

Abstract

In this study we demonstrate the remarkable bi-functionalities of doped CeF₃ nanoparticles. The sonochemically synthesized triple doped CeF₃:Mn²⁺:Dy³⁺:Tb³⁺ nanoparticles exhibited room temperature ferromagnetism and also serves as a good white light emitting phosphor material. The particles were found to be mostly spherical in shape and the average size was in the range of ∼75 nm. Room temperature ferromagnetism was observed for this triple doped sample and the saturation magnetization was found to be 4.56 × 10^-3 _B/Mn atom. First-principles spin-polarized plane wave based supercell calculations, using the projector augmented wave potentials, on Mn-doped CeF₃ confirmed its ferromagnetic properties. The simultaneous observation of both room temperature ferromagnetism and white light emission from doped fluoride nanoparticles reveals the complexity and uniqueness of these results.