Sulfur antisite-induced intrinsic high-temperature ferromagnetism in Ag₂S:Y nanocrystals

There is an urgent need for a complete understanding of intrinsic ferromagnetism, due to the necessity for application of ferromagnetic semiconductors. Here, further insight into the magnetic mechanism of sulfur antisite-induced intrinsic high-temperature ferromagnetism is investigated in Ag2S:Y nanocrystals. The gas-liquid phase chemical deposition method is adopted to obtain the monoclinic Ag2S:Y nanocrystals. The field and temperature-dependent magnetization measurements demonstrate the robust high-temperature ferromagnetism of Ag2S:Y nanocrystals. As revealed in the magnetic origin study from first-principles calculations, the intrinsic sulfur antisite defect is only responsible for the creation of a magnetic moment which mainly comes from the S 3p and Ag 4d orbitals. Such a mechanism, which is essentially different from those of dopants and other native defects, provides new insight into the origin of the magnetism.