Vol.:(0123456789) Applied Magnetic Resonance https://doi.org/10.1007/s00723-018-1068-0 1 3 ORIGINAL PAPER Spectroscopic Study of Mn 2+ Doped PbS Nanocrystals Ram Kripal 1  · C. Rudowicz 2  · Upendra Mani Tripathi 1 Received: 31 July 2018 / Revised: 1 September 2018 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Austria, part of Springer Nature 2018 Abstract Mn 2+ doped PbS (PbS:Mn 2+ ) semiconductor nanocrystals have been synthesized by standard chemical method and characterized using various techniques for possible applications in quantum dots. This work describes new physical properties of these nanocrystals that have emerged from our investigations. The PbS:Mn 2+ nanocrys- tals have cubic structure (space Group Fm3m) and the average crystallite size lies between 5 and 10 nm as characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Transmis- sion Electron Microscopy (TEM) analysis. The structural properties of PbS:Mn 2+ nanoparticles are also studied by UV/Vis absorption spectrum and High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM). The quantitative chemical analysis of pure and Mn 2+ doped PbS nanocrystals has been done by Energy Dispersive Spec- troscopy (EDS) spectra. The energy band gaps have been determined by UV/Vis absorption study using Tauc Plot as (in eV):1.79, 1.90, 2.23, and 2.39 for Mn 2+ con- centration equal to 0, 0.05, 0.26, and 0.52%, respectively. The luminescence behav- ior of the nanocrystals has been studied by photoluminescence (PL) spectra. The magnetic and electronic properties of PbS:Mn 2+ nanocrystals were studied using Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. Analysis of EPR spectra enabled determination of the electronic g-factor, the second-rank axial zero-field splitting parameter D and the hyperfine parameter A. Applied Magnetic Resonance * Ram Kripal ram_kripal2001@rediffmail.com C. Rudowicz czerud@amu.edu.pl Upendra Mani Tripathi upendramani28@gmail.com 1 EPR Lab, Department of Physics, University of Allahabad, Allahabad 211002, India 2 Faculty of Chemistry, A. Mickiewicz University, Umultowska 89B, 61-614 Poznan, Poland