Structural confinement effects of an amorphous magneto-semiconductor within nanochannels

Optical and magnetic properties have been investigated for the structurally confined amorphous magneto-semiconductor, ternary chalcogenide, within the nanochannels of the mesoporous host. The structural confinement induced a weak crystallographic ordering of the magneto-semiconductor within the nanochannels. Unique optical properties were observed for this nanocomposite, which were possibly due to the size and energy quantization of the confined guest chalcogenide within the nanochannels. The structural confinement also induced the suppression of the phonon coupling to the photoexcited carriers during the carriers' recombination process. The spin-glass freezing temperature (T _f = 4.2 K) which was the characteristic magnetic transition temperature for the amorphous bulk was shifted to 2.3 K for the confined system, possibly due to the generation of the superparamagnetic domains induced by the quantum confinement effect.