4f Conduction in the Magnetic Semiconductor NdN

TL;DR

This paper reports the growth and analysis of NdN films, revealing a 4f conduction channel with a strong anomalous Hall effect and optical absorption features, indicating a heavy-fermion 4f/5d band influenced by nitrogen vacancies.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the electronic structure and transport properties of ferromagnetic semiconductor NdN, highlighting the role of 4f/5d hybridization and nitrogen vacancies.

Findings

Strong anomalous Hall effect observed

Optical absorption into 4f/5d hybridized tail

Heavy-fermion 4f/5d band influenced by nitrogen vacancies

Abstract

We report the growth of films of the intrinsic ferromagnetic semiconductor NdN, and an investigation of their optical and transport properties. There is clear evidence of a strong anomalous Hall effect as expected from a 4f conduction channel, supported by an optical absorption into a 4f or 4f/5d hybridized tail at the base of the conduction band. The results reveal a heavy-fermion 4f/5d band lying where it can be occupied at controllable levels with nitrogen-vacancy donors.