Magnetic and Electrical Properties of CuCrSe Nanoparticles.

CuCrSe nanoparticles were obtained by the high-energy ball milling of CuCrSe single crystals, which had a size of approximately 32 nm after 5 h of milling. Structural, magnetic, and electrical studies have shown that a reduction in CuCrSe single crystals to the nanosize leads to (1) a weakening of ferromagnetic interactions, both long and short range, (2) a lack of saturation of magnetization at 5 K and 70 kOe, (3) a change in the nature of electrical conductivity from metallic to semiconductor, and (4) a reduction in the thermoelectric power factor Sσ by an order of magnitude of 400 K. The above results were considered in terms of the parameters of the band model, derived from the high-temperature expansion of magnetic susceptibility and from the diffusive component of thermoelectric power.

Influence of Crystallite Size on the Magnetic Order in Semiconducting ZnCrSe Nanoparticles.

Structural, electrical, magnetic, and specific heat measurements were carried out on ZnCrSe single crystal and on nanocrystals obtained from the milling of this single crystal after 1, 3, and 5 h, whose crystallite sizes were 25.2, 2.5, and 2 nm, respectively.