Magnetic and thermodynamic properties of cobalt-doped iron pyrite: Griffiths phase in a magnetic semiconductor

Doping of the band insulator FeS2 with Co on the Fe site introduces a small density of itinerant carriers and magnetic moments. The lattice constant, ac and dc magnetic susceptibility, magnetization, and specific heat have been measured over the 0 <= x <= 0.085 range of Co concentration. The variation in the ac susceptibility with hydrostatic pressure has also been measured in a small number of our samples. All of these quantities show systematic variation with x including a paramagnetic to disordered ferromagnetic transition at x =0.007+/-0.002. A detailed analysis of the changes with temperature and magnetic field reveal small power-law dependencies at low temperatures for samples near the critical concentration for magnetism and just above the Curie temperature at higher x. In addition, the magnetic susceptibility and specific heat are nonanalytic around H=0 displaying extraordinarily sharp field dependence in this same temperature range. We interpret this behavior as due to the formation of Griffiths phases that result from the quenched disorder inherent in a doped semiconductor.