No Arabic abstract
Colossal magnetoresistance (CMR) refers to a large change in electrical conductivity induced by a magnetic field in the vicinity of a metal-insulator transition and has inspired extensive studies for decadescite{Ramirez1997, Tokura2006}. Here we demonstrate an analogous spin effect near the Neel temperature $T_{rm{N}}$=296 K of the antiferromagnetic insulator CrO. Using a yttrium iron garnet YIG/CrO/Pt trilayer, we injected a spin current from the YIG into the CrO layer, and collected via the inverse spin Hall effect the signal transmitted in the heavy metal Pt. We observed a change by two orders of magnitude in the transmitted spin current within 14 K of the Neel temperature. This transition between spin conducting and nonconducting states could be also modulated by a magnetic field in isothermal conditions. This effect, that we term spin colossal magnetoresistance (SCMR), has the potential to simplify the design of fundamental spintronics components, for instance enabling the realization of spin current switches or spin-current based memories.
Here we investigate antiferromagnetic Eu$_{5}$In$_{2}$Sb$_{6}$, a nonsymmorphic Zintl phase. Our electrical transport data show that Eu$_{5}$In$_{2}$Sb$_{6}$ is remarkably insulating and exhibits an exceptionally large negative magnetoresistance, which is consistent with the presence of magnetic polarons. From {it ab initio} calculations, the paramagnetic state of Eu$_{5}$In$_{2}$Sb$_{6}$ is a topologically nontrivial semimetal within the generalized gradient approximation (GGA), whereas an insulating state with trivial topological indices is obtained using a modified Becke-Johnson potential. Notably, GGA+U calculations suggest that the antiferromagnetic phase of Eu$_{5}$In$_{2}$Sb$_{6}$ may host an axion insulating state. Our results provide important feedback for theories of topological classification and highlight the potential of realizing clean magnetic narrow-gap semiconductors in Zintl materials.
Searching for novel antiferromagnetic materials with large magnetotransport response is highly demanded for constructing future spintronic devices with high stability, fast switching speed, and high density. Here we report a colossal anisotropic magnetoresistance effect in an antiferromagnetic binary compound with layered structure rare-earth dichalcogenide EuTe2. The AMR reaches 40000%, which is 4 orders of magnitude larger than that in conventional antiferromagnetic alloys. Combined magnetization, resistivity, and theoretical analysis reveal that the colossal AMR effect is attributed to a novel mechanism of vector-field tunable band structure, rather than the conventional spin-orbit coupling mechanism. Moreover, it is revealed that the strong hybridization between orbitals of Eu-layer with localized spin and Te-layer with itinerant carriers is extremely important for the large AMR effect. Our results suggest a new direction towards exploring AFM materials with prominent magnetotransport properties, which creates an unprecedented opportunity for AFM spintronics applications.
Antiferromagnetic materials promise improved performance for spintronic applications, as they are robust against external magnetic field perturbations and allow for faster magnetization dynamics compared to ferromagnets. The direct observation of the antiferromagnetic state, however, is challenging due to the absence of a macroscopic magnetization. Here, we show that the spin Hall magnetoresistance (SMR) is a versatile tool to probe the antiferromagnetic spin structure via simple electrical transport experiments by investigating the easy-plane antiferromagnetic insulators $alpha$-Fe2O3 (hematite) and NiO in bilayer heterostructures with a Pt heavy metal top electrode. While rotating an external magnetic field in three orthogonal planes, we record the longitudinal and the transverse resistivities of Pt and observe characteristic resistivity modulations consistent with the SMR effect. We analyze both their amplitude and phase and compare the data to the results from a prototypical collinear ferrimagnetic Y3Fe5O12/Pt bilayer. The observed magnetic field dependence is explained in a comprehensive model, based on two magnetic sublattices and taking into account magnetic field-induced modifications of the domain structure. Our results show that the SMR allows us to understand the spin configuration and to investigate magnetoelastic effects in antiferromagnetic multi-domain materials. Furthermore, in $alpha$-Fe2O3/Pt bilayers, we find an unexpectedly large SMR amplitude of $2.5 times 10^{-3}$, twice as high as for prototype Y3Fe5O12/Pt bilayers, making the system particularly interesting for room-temperature antiferromagnetic spintronic applications.
Through a thorough magneto-transport study of antiferromagnetic topological insulator MnBi2Te4 (MBT) thick films, a positive linear magnetoresistance (LMR) with a two-dimensional (2D) character is found in high perpendicular magnetic fields and temperatures up to at least 260 K. The nonlinear Hall effect further reveals the existence of high-mobility surface states in addition to the bulk states in MBT. We ascribe the 2D LMR to the high-mobility surface states of MBT, thus unveiling a transport signature of surface states in thick MBT films. A suppression of LMR near the Neel temperature of MBT is also noticed, which might suggest the gap opening of surface states due to the paramagnetic-antiferromagnetic phase transition of MBT. Besides these, the failure of the disorder and quantum LMR model in explaining the observed LMR indicates new physics must be invoked to understand this phenomenon.
The correlation between colossal magnetocapacitance (CMC) and colossal magnetoresistance (CMR) in CdCr2S4 system has been revealed. The CMC is induced in polycrystalline Cd0.97In0.03Cr2S4 by annealing in cadmium vapor. At the same time, an insulator-metal transition and a concomitant CMR are observed near the Curie temperature. In contrast, after the same annealing treatment, CdCr2S4 displays a typical semiconductor behavior and does not show magnetic field dependent dielectric and electric transport properties. The simultaneous occurrence or absence of CMC and CMR effects implies that the CMC in the annealed Cd0.97In0.03Cr2S4 could be explained qualitatively by a combination of CMR and Maxwell-Wagner effect.