Magnet-in-the-Semiconductor Nanomaterials

We report a colloidal synthesis, and electrical and magnetotransport properties of multifunctional “magnet-in-the-semiconductor” nanostructures composed of FePt core and CdSe or CdS shell.

Thin films of all-inorganic FePt/CdSe and FePt/CdS core–shell nanostructures capped with In2Se42– molecular chalcogenide (MCC) ligands exhibited n-type charge transport with high field-effect electron mobility of 3.4 and 0.02 cm2/V·s, respectively.

These nanostructures also showed a negative magnetoresistance characteristic for spin-dependent tunneling.

We discuss the mechanism of charge transport and gating in the arrays of metal/semiconductor core–shell nanostructures.