Effective optical Faraday rotations of semiconductor EuS nanocrystals with paramagnetic transition-metal ions

Novel EuS nanocrystals containing paramagnetic Mn(II), Co(II), or Fe(II) ions have been reported as advanced semiconductor materials with effective optical rotation under a magnetic field, Faraday rotation. EuS nanocrystals with transition-metal ions, EuS:M nanocrystals, were prepared by the reduction of the Eu(III) dithiocarbamate complex tetraphenylphosphonium tetrakis(diethyldithiocarbamate)europium(III) with transition-metal complexes at 300 °C. The EuS:M nanocrystals thus prepared were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroanalysis (ICP-AES), and a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) magnetometer. Enhanced Faraday rotations of the EuS:M nanocrystals were observed around 550 nm, and their enhanced spin polarization was estimated using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) measurements. In this report, the magneto-optical relationship between the Faraday rotation efficiency and spin polarization is discussed.