Sn oxides co-doped with Zn, Sb and 57 Fe were prepared by sol-gel method, and especially the doping effect of non-magnetic Zn ions was studied. The bulk saturation magnetization is in accordance with the intensity of the magnetic component in Mössbauer spectra. The nuclear inelastic scattering (NIS) spectra of these compounds were measured in SPring 8. The vibration density of states (VDOS) of 57 Fe doped Sn(Sb) oxides showed that the softening peaks around 15-20 meV appeared by doping less than 10% Zn ions. The clusters of non-magnetic ZnFe 2 O 4 may be most probably formed under the limit of XRD detections. The results suggest that the strengthening of ferromagnetism, which appears in the dilute Zn doping, may occur due to the spin arrangement of dilute Fe 3+ through magnetic defects rather than the formation of magnetic iron oxides.Keywords Vibration density of states (VDOS) · Mössbauer spectroscopy · Nuclear inelastic scattering · Diluted magnetic oxide semiconductors · Zn doping effect of Fe and Sb doped SnO 2