Diluted Magnetic Semiconductor Nanocrystals in Glass Matrix

In this chapter, it was presented the main advances, which have been obtained by us in last few years, related to study of Diluted Magnetic Semiconductor Nanocrystals (DMS NCs) in glass matrixes. Probably the first time, Pb1-xMnxS, Pb1-xMnxSe, and Cd1-xMnxS DMS NCs were successfully grown in a glass matrix by the fusion method, when subjected to an adequate thermal annealing. Our results, obtained by the experimental techniques, showed that it was possible to control the optical, magnetic, and structural properties of these DMS NCs, confirming the high quality of the synthesized samples. Therefore, we have proved that the use of glass matrixes, as host material for DMS NCs, is an excellent alternative, since they provide great stability to the nanoparticles, with a relatively low cost of synthesis. We believe that this chapter may be useful for further investigations on the optical, magnetic, and structural properties of Mn-doped nanocrystals.