Spintronics and valleytronics are emerging quantum electronic technologies that rely on using electron spin and multiple extrema of the band structure (valleys), respectively, as additional degrees of freedom. There are also collective properties of electrons in semiconductor nanostructures that potentially could be exploited in multifunctional quantum devices. Specifically, plasmonic semiconductor nanocrystals offer an opportunity for interface-free coupling between a plasmon and an exciton. However, plasmon-exciton coupling in single-phase semiconductor nanocrystals remains challenging because confined plasmon oscillations are generally not resonant with excitonic transitions. Here, we demonstrate a robust electron polarization in degenerately doped InO nanocrystals, enabled by non-resonant coupling of cyclotron magnetoplasmonic modes with the exciton at the Fermi level. Using magnetic circular dichroism spectroscopy, we show that intrinsic plasmon-exciton coupling allows for the indirect excitation of the magnetoplasmonic modes, and subsequent Zeeman splitting of the excitonic states. Splitting of the band states and selective carrier polarization can be manipulated further by spin-orbit coupling. Our results effectively open up the field of plasmontronics, which involves the phenomena that arise from intrinsic plasmon-exciton and plasmon-spin interactions. Furthermore, the dynamic control of carrier polarization is readily achieved at room temperature, which allows us to harness the magnetoplasmonic mode as a new degree of freedom in practical photonic, optoelectronic and quantum-information processing devices.

Controlling plasmonic properties of aliovalently doped semiconductor nanocrystals in mid-infrared (MIR) spectral region is of a particular current interest, because of their potential application in heat-responsive devices and near-field enhanced spectroscopies. However, a lack of detailed understanding of the correlations among the electronic structure of the host lattice, dopant ions, and surface properties hampers the development of MIR-tunable plasmonic nanocrystals (NCs). In this article, we report the colloidal synthesis and spectroscopic properties of two new plasmonic NC systems based on In2O3, antimony- and titanium-doped In2O3 NCs, and comparative investigation of their electronic structure using the combination of the Drude–Lorenz model and density functional theory. The localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs) lie at lower energies and have smaller bandwidths for Ti-doped than for Sb-doped In2O3 NCs with similar doping levels, indicating lower free electron density. Surprisingly, the Fermi level is found to be higher in Ti-doped In2O3 than in Sb-doped In2O3, suggesting the formation of electron trap states on nanocrystal surfaces, which reduce carrier density without significantly impacting their mobility. Controlling the competition between doping concentration and electron trapping allowed us to generate LSPR in Ti-doped In2O3 nanocrystals deep in the MIR region, and tune the absorption spectra from 650 cm–1 to 8000 cm–1. We also demonstrated the possibility to enhance the intensity of LSPR in these new plasmonic NCs by adjusting the synthesis and post-synthesis treatment conditions. The results of this work allow for an expansion of the tuning range of LSPR of colloidal metal oxide NCs by controlling the electronic structure of aliovalent dopant and charge carrier trapping.

Degenerately doped metal oxide nanocrystals have emerged as infrared plasmonic materials with promising applications in optoelectronics, surface-enhanced infrared spectroscopies, and sensing. They also have potential for technological applications in electronics and photonics owing to the possibility of coupling between plasmon and exciton in the absence of a heterojunction. Here, we demonstrate the control of excitonic splitting in In 2 O 3 nanocrystals upon excitation with circularly polarized light in an external magnetic field by simultaneous control of the electronic structure of donor defects and the nanocrystal host lattice. Using variable-temperature− variable-field magnetic circular dichroism spectroscopy, we show that the nanocrystal band splitting has two distinct contributions in plasmonic In 2 O 3 nanocrystals. Temperature-independent splitting arises from the cyclotron magnetoplasmonic modes, which impart angular momentum to the conduction band excited states near the Fermi level, and increases with the intensity of the corresponding plasmon resonance. Temperature-dependent splitting is associated with the localized electron spins trapped in defect states. The ratio of the two components can be controlled by the formation of oxygen vacancies or introduction of aliovalent dopants. Using these experimental results in conjunction with the density functional theory modeling, relative contribution of the two mechanisms is discussed in the context of the perturbation theory taking into account energy separation between the nanocrystal excited states and the localized defect states. The results of this work demonstrate the ability to control carrier polarization in nonmagnetic metal oxide nanocrystals using both individual and collective electronic properties and allow for their application as an emerging class of multifunctional materials with strongly interacting degrees of freedom.

Investigation of the origin of high-Curie temperature ferromagnetism in diluted magnetic oxides has become one of the focal points of research on solid-state magnetism. While several possible mechanisms have been proposed theoretically, broader experimental evidence is still lacking. Here we report a comparative study of the electronic structure and magnetic properties of colloidal Fe-doped In2O3 and SnO2 nanocrystals, as building blocks for grain-boundary-rich diluted magnetic oxide films. The dopant ions in both nanocrystal host lattices are principally in 3+ oxidation state, with possibly a minor presence of Fe2+ in In2O3, and no conclusive evidence of the presence of Fe2+ in SnO2 nanocrystals. Subsequently, we found that Fe-doped In2O3 nanocrystalline films exhibit only minor ferromagnetic ordering (with a magnetic moment of less than ca. 0.1 μB/Fe) and decreasing saturation magnetization with increasing doping concentration at room temperature. The saturation magnetic moment of Fe-doped SnO2 nanocrystalline films is insignificant or below the detection limit. These results contrast previous findings for analogous Mn-doped nanocrystals, which contain mixed oxidation states (Mn2+ and Mn3+) and exhibit a robust ferromagnetism at room temperature. The correlation between the mixed dopant oxidation states and the observed magnetic properties implies that ferromagnetism in these systems is of a Stoner type, enabled by electron transfer between dopant ions and the local defect states arising from the grain boundaries within a nanocrystalline film. These results suggest the prospect of probing and manipulating ferromagnetism in nonmagnetic oxides by simultaneous control of the transition metal dopant oxidation states and extended structural defects.

Dynamic manipulation of discrete states in nanostructured materials is critical for emerging quantum technologies. However, this process often requires a correlation of mutually competing degrees of freedom. Here we report the control of magnetic-field-induced excitonic splitting in colloidal TiO2 nanocrystals by control of their faceting. By changing nanocrystal morphology via reaction conditions, we control the concentration and location of oxygen vacancies, which can generate localized surface plasmon resonance and foster the reduction of lattice cations leading to the emergence of individual or exchange-coupled Ti­(III) centers with high net-spin states. These species can all couple with the nanocrystal lattice under different conditions resulting in distinctly patterned excitonic Zeeman splitting and selective control of conduction band states in an external magnetic field. This work demonstrates the concept of using nanocrystal morphology to control carrier polarization in individual nanocrystals using both intrinsic and collective electronic properties, representing a unique approach to multifunctionality in reduced dimensions.