Crystal Growth, Structure, Resistivity, Magnetic, and Photoelectric Properties of One-Dimensional Selenometallate Ba2 BiFeSe5

Chem Asian J. 2016 Dec 6;11(23):3436-3442. doi: 10.1002/asia.201601230. Epub 2016 Oct 28.

Abstract

Low-dimensional materials have attracted extensive research interest in recent years owing to their interesting structural chemistry and physical properties, which will greatly deepen our knowledge of these materials and could lead to additional breakthroughs in the future. Herein we have synthesized and characterized Ba2 BiFeSe5 , which adopts a quasi-one-dimensional structure and possesses some fascinating physical properties. The sharp divergences between the field-cooled (FC) and the zero-field-cooled (ZFC) data and the rather small magnetic moment per Fe3+ (0.07 μB ) strongly suggest that the title compound is weakly ferromagnetic with a high magnetic transition temperature above room temperature, which is controlled by competing super-exchange interactions within and between [FeBiSe5 ] anionic ladders. Moreover, with its narrow bandgap of 0.95 eV, Ba2 BiFeSe5 shows photoelectric properties with a photocurrent density of approximately 30 mA cm2 at 5 V. Our study demonstrates that Ba2 FeBiSe5 might be a new type of multifunctional material that deserves further investigation.

Keywords: chain structures; chalcogens; crystal growth; magnetic properties; semiconductors.