| Summary: | This research work describes the synthesis of ZnO nanostructures doped with Ho<sup>3+</sup> ions using a conventional sol–gel synthesis method. The nanostructured produced exhibited a wurtzite hexagonal structure in both ZnO and ZnO:Ho<sup>3+</sup> (0.25, 0.5, 0.75 mol%) samples. The change in morphology with addition of Ho<sup>3+</sup> dopants was observed, which was assigned to Ostwald ripening effect occurring during the nanoparticles’ growth. The photoluminescence emission properties of the doped samples revealed that Ho<sup>3+</sup> was emitting through its electronic transitions. Moreover, reduced surface defects were observed in the Holmium doped samples whose analysis was undertaken using an X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) technique. Finally, enhanced room temperature ferromagnetism (RT-FM) for Ho<sup>3+</sup>-doped ZnO (0.5 mol%) samples with a peak-to-peak line width of 452 G was detected and found to be highly correlated to the UV–VIS transmittance results.
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