Conduction band behaviour in antiferromagnetic semiconductors

Abstract

The interaction of itinerant conduction band electrons with the localized spins of an antiferromagnetic lattice is investigated in the spin-wave approximation. The interaction results in: (a) removal of the spin and site degeneracy of the atomic levels; and (b) the appearance of an effective resonance energy of two neighbouring sites. The thermal average of the latter suggests a non-exponential dependence on the temperature and coupling strength, in contrast to the earlier studies of Wolfram and Callaway (1962).