Ternary magnetic semiconductors: Recent developments in physics and technology

Abstract

Recent results in physics and technology of ternary magnetic oxide and chalcogenide spinels AB 2X 4 (A = Fe, Mn, Co, Cd, Zn, Hg; B = Cr, Co, Sc, Al; X = O, S, Se) are reviewed. Us-ing magnetic susceptibility, specific heat, thermal expansion, electron-spin resonance, neutron diffraction, broad-band di-electric spectroscopy, and infrared optical spectroscopy, the spin, charge, orbital, and lattice correlations in these com-pounds were investigated. The novel magnetic ground states, e.g., spin liquid, spin-orbital liquid, and orbital glass, and in triguing effects, like colossal magnetocapacitive coupling, negative thermal expansion, and spin-driven Jahn-Teller structural transformations were revealed. In considering the origin of these phenomena, the concept of geometrical and bond frustration is explored. It relates the interplay of charge, spin, and orbital degrees of freedom with the inherent topo-logical frustration and competing exchange interactions be-tween the magnetic ions. © 2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co, KGaA.