Bandgap narrowing in the layered oxysulfide semiconductor Ba3Fe2O5Cu2S2: Role of FeO2 layer**Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51472266, 51202286, and 91422303), the Strategic Priority Research Program (B) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. XDB07020100) and the ICDD.

Abstract

A new layered Cu-based oxychalcogenide Ba3Fe2O5Cu2S2 has been synthesized and its magnetic and electronic properties were revealed. Ba3Fe2O5Cu2S2 is built up by alternatively stacking [Cu2S2]2− layers and iron perovskite oxide [(FeO2)(BaO)(FeO2)]2− layers along the c axis that are separated by barium ions with Fe3+ fivefold coordinated by a square-pyramidal arrangement of oxygen. From the bond valence arguments, we inferred that in layered CuCh-based (Ch = S, Se, Te) compounds the +3 cation in perovskite oxide sheet prefers a square pyramidal site, while the lower valence cation prefers the square planar sites. The studies on susceptibility, transport, and optical reflectivity indicate that Ba3Fe2O5Cu2S2 is an antiferromagnetic semiconductor with a Néel temperature of 121 K and an optical bandgap of 1.03 eV. The measurement of heat capacity from 10 K to room temperature shows no anomaly at 121 K. The Debye temperature is determined to be 113 K. Theoretical calculations indicate that the conduction band minimum is predominantly contributed by O 2p and 3d states of Fe ions that antiferromagnetically arranged in FeO2 layers. The Fe 3d states are located at lower energy and result in a narrow bandgap in comparison with that of the isostructural Sr3Sc2O5Cu2S2.