Heavy Carriers and Non-Drude Optical Conductivity in MnSi

Abstract

Optical properties of the weakly helimagnetic metal MnSi have been determined in the photon energy range from 2 meV to 4.5 eV using the combination of grazing incidence reflectance at 80 degrees (2 meV to 0.8 eV) and ellipsometry (0.8 to 4.5 eV). As the sample is cooled below 100 K the effective mass becomes strongly frequency dependent at low frequencies, while the scattering rate developes a linear frequency dependence. The complex optical conductivity can be described by the phenomenological relation σ(ω,T) \propto (Γ(T)+iω)^{-1/2} used for cuprates and ruthenates.