Low-energy Properties of Electrons and Holes in CuFeS$_2$

TL;DR

This paper derives an effective Hamiltonian for electrons and holes in CuFeS$_2$, revealing spin-polarized bands and an anomalous Hall effect, with implications for spintronics and integration with silicon.

Contribution

It provides a symmetry-based extit{k} extperiodcentered{} extbf{p} Hamiltonian for CuFeS$_2$ derived from ab initio calculations, highlighting spin-polarization and Hall effects.

Findings

CuFeS$_2$ has spin-polarized electronic bands.

The material exhibits an anomalous Hall effect.

Cyclotron resonance can verify effective mass tensors.

Abstract

The antiferromagnetic semiconductor CuFeS$_2$ belongs to a magnetic symmetry class that is of interest for spintronics applications. In addition, its crystal lattice is compatible with Si, making it possible to integrate it with non-magnetic semiconducting structures. Therefore, we investigate this material by finding the effective $\boldsymbol{k}\cdot\boldsymbol{p}$ Hamiltonian for the electron- and hole bands. We base this description on \textit{ab initio} calculations and classify the electronic bands by their symmetry. As a result, we find that CuFeS$_2$ exhibits spin-polarized bands and an anomalous Hall effect. Finally, we suggest using cyclotron resonance to verify our proposed effective mass tensors at the conduction band minimum and valence band maximum.