Fe doped ZnS nanoparticles, synthesized in microemulsion, consist of several nanocrystals with size of about 5 nm. The evolvement of the structure and morphology with the increase of Fe concentration indicates that Fe doping reduces crystallinity. The magnetic measurement shows that Zn0.9Fe0.1S is ferromagnetic at room temperature and the coercivity decreases with the increase of Fe concentration. Significant blue shift of absorption edge in the UV-vis spectra induced by Fe doping is observed. The X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) spectra of Fe K-edge indicate the Fe ions in ZnS lattice are trivalent and the local structure around dopant is analyzed. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.