  We report the electronic structure studies of well characterized
polycrystalline Zn_{1-x}Fe_xO (x = 0.0, 0.01, 0.03, and 0.05) nanorods
synthesized by a co-precipitation method through x-ray absorption fine
structure (XAFS). X-ray diffraction (XRD) reveals that Fe doped ZnO
crystallizes in a single phase wurtzite structure without any secondary phase.
  From the XRD pattern, it is observed that peak positions shift towards lower
2\theta value with Fe doping. The change in the peak positions with increase in
Fe contents clearly indicates that Fe ions are replacing Zn ions in the ZnO
matrix. Linear combination fittings (LCF) at Fe K-edge demonstrate that Fe is
in mixed valent state (Fe3+/Fe2+) with a ratio of ~ 7:3 (Fe3+:Fe2+). XAFS data
is successfully fitted to wurtzite structure using IFEFFIT and Artemis. The
results indicate that Fe substitutes Zn site in the ZnO matrix in tetrahedral
symmetry.
