Effective Mass for Holes in Paramagnetic, Plasmonic Cu5FeS4 Semiconductor Nanocrystals

The impact of a magneto-structural phase transition on the carrier effective mass in Cu5FeS4 plasmonic semiconductor nanocrystals was examined using magnetic circular dichroism (MCD). Through MCD, the sample was confirmed as p type with variable-temperature studies from 1.8-75 K. Magnetic field-dependent behavior is observed, showing an asymptotic behavior at high field with an m* value 5.98 m*/m(e) at 10 T and 2.73 m*/m(e) at 2 T. Experimentally obtained results are holistically compared to SQUID magnetization data and DFT calculations, highlighting a dependency on vacancy-driven polaronic coupling, magnetocrystalline anisotropy, and plasmon coupling of the magnetic field, all contributing to an overall decrease in the hole mean free path dependent on the magnetic field applied to Cu5FeS4.

Automated summary

The impact of a magneto-structural phase transition on the carrier effective mass in Cu5FeS4 semiconductor nanocrystals was examined using magnetic circular dichroism. It was found that the behavior of carriers is influenced by the magnetic field.