American Chemical Society, ACS Nano, 1(7), p. 857-866, 2013
DOI: 10.1021/nn305459m
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We report on the unprecedented direct observation of spin-polarisation transfer across colloidal magneto-plasmonic Au@Fe-oxide core@shell nanocrystal heterostructures. A magnetic moment is induced into the Au domain when the magnetic shell contains a reduced Fe-oxide phase in direct contact with the noble metal. An increased hole density in the Au states suggested occurrence of a charge-transfer process concomitant to the magnetisation transfer. The angular to spin magnetic moment ratio, m(orb)/m(spin), for the Au 5d states, which was found to be equal to 0.38, appeared to be unusually large when compared to previous findings. A mechanism relying on direct hybridisation between the Au and Fe states at the core/shell interface is proposed to account for the observed transfer of the magnetic moment.