Europium (Eu) metal has a body centered cubic crystal structure which, upon a paramagnetic-to-helical magnetic phase transition, undergoes a body centered tetragonal distortion. The magnetic helix appears below a Néel temperature (TN) of ∼90 K, and an applied magnetic field gives rise to conical magnet structure. We have prepared Eu metal thin films on Si (001) substrates using Eu metal as a target by pulsed laser deposition and studied the transport properties by a four-probe method. The resistance shows a sudden slope change at TN of 88 K. The magnetoresistance (MR) is positive at temperatures below 30 K and exhibits negative values above that. Our analyses show that the positive MR at low temperatures originates from magnetic field induced spin fluctuation, and the negative MR at higher temperature is a result of suppression of critical spin fluctuation of the Eu spins by the magnetic field. The Eu film also shows hysteretic MR behaviors in mid field range, which is a result of re-distribution of the helical antiferromagnetic domains by the magnetic fields. We have also studied the transverse magnetotransport in the Eu thin films. The observed anomalous Hall effect is believed to be associated with the magnetic moment induced by the field or due to the helical spin structure of Eu itself. 
                        more » 
                        « less   
                    
                            
                            Resistance of single domain walls in half-metallic CrO 2 epitaxial nanostructures
                        
                    
    
            Magnetic domain structures are active electron transport agents and can be used to induce large magnetoresistance (MR), particularly in half-metallic solids. We have studied the excess resistance induced by a single magnetic domain wall in a one-dimensional half-metallic CrO 2 nanoscale conductor with a built-in constriction whose channel width ( d ) ranges from 30 to 200 nm. We observed that the domain wall-induced MR is enhanced by 70 fold when d decreases from 200 nm to 30 nm. We speculate that the enhancement is due to the increased domain wall resistance (DWR) and the extra contribution of ballistic magnetoresistance (BMR). We have uncovered a large size effect of d on the MR induced by the domain wall, which scales with d as d −1.87±0.32 . Accordingly, we predict that the MR ratio of a simple CrO 2 nanowire impregnated with a constriction at a 150 nm 2 cross-section could reach 100%. This large MR far exceeds that of a conventional ferromagnetic nanowire, confirming the role of half metallicity on enhanced magneto-transport. 
        more » 
        « less   
        
    
                            - Award ID(s):
- 1936221
- PAR ID:
- 10316640
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Nanoscale
- Volume:
- 13
- Issue:
- 47
- ISSN:
- 2040-3364
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
- 
            
- 
            Abstract The Ruddlesden‐Popper 5diridate Sr2IrO4is an antiferromagnetic Mott insulator with the electronic, magnetic, and structural properties highly intertwined. Voltage control of its magnetic state is of intense fundmenatal and technological interest but remains to be demonstrated. Here, the tuning of magnetotransport properties in 5.2 nm Sr2IrO4via interfacial ferroelectric PbZr0.2Ti0.8O3is reported. The conductance of the epitaxial PbZr0.2Ti0.8O3/Sr2IrO4heterostructure exhibits ln(T) behavior that is characteristic of 2D correlated metal, in sharp contrast to the thermally activated behavior followed by 3D variable range hopping observed in single‐layer Sr2IrO4films. Switching PbZr0.2Ti0.8O3polarization induces nonvolatile, reversible resistance modulation in Sr2IrO4. At low temperatures, the in‐plane magnetoresisance in the heterostructure transitions from positive to negative at high magnetic fields, opposite to the field dependence in single‐layer Sr2IrO4. In the polarization down state, the out‐of‐plane anisotropic magnetoresistanceRAMRexhibits sinusoidal angular dependence, with a 90° phase shift below 20 K. For the polarization up state, unusual multi‐level resistance pinning appears inRAMRbelow 30 K, pointing to enhanced magnetocrystalline anisotropy. The work sheds new light on the intriguing interplay of interface lattice coupling, charge doping, magnetoelastic effect, and possible incipient ferromagnetism in Sr2IrO4, facilitating the functional design of its electronic and material properties.more » « less
- 
            Transport coefficients of correlated electron systems are often useful for mapping hidden phases with distinct symmetries. Here we report a transport signature of spontaneous symmetry breaking in the magnetic Weyl semimetal cerium-aluminum-germanium (CeAlGe) system in the form of singular angular magnetoresistance (SAMR). This angular response exceeding 1000% per radian is confined along the high-symmetry axes with a full width at half maximum reaching less than 1° and is tunable via isoelectronic partial substitution of silicon for germanium. The SAMR phenomena is explained theoretically as a consequence of controllable high-resistance domain walls, arising from the breaking of magnetic point group symmetry strongly coupled to a nearly nodal electronic structure. This study indicates ingredients for engineering magnetic materials with high angular sensitivity by lattice and site symmetries.more » « less
- 
            Abstract The performance of electronic and optoelectronic devices is dominated by charge carrier injection through the metal–semiconductor contacts. Therefore, creating low-resistance electrical contacts is one of the most critical challenges in the development of devices based on new materials, particularly in the case of two-dimensional semiconductors. Herein, we report a strategy to reduce the contact resistance of MoS 2 via local pressurization. We fabricated electrical contacts using an atomic force microscopy tip and applied variable pressure ranging from 0 to 25 GPa. By measuring the transverse electronic transport properties, we show that MoS 2 undergoes a reversible semiconducting-metallic transition under pressure. Planar devices in field effect configuration with electrical contacts performed at pressures above ∼15 GPa show up to 30-fold reduced contact resistance and up to 25-fold improved field-effect mobility when compared to those measured at low pressure. Theoretical simulations show that this enhanced performance is due to improved charge injection to the MoS 2 semiconductor channel through the metallic MoS 2 phase obtained by pressurization. Our results suggest a novel strategy for realizing improved contacts to MoS 2 devices by local pressurization and for exploring emergent phenomena under mechano-electric modulation.more » « less
- 
            Abstract Radical chemistries have attracted burgeoning attention due to their intriguing technological applications in organic electronics, optoelectronics, and magneto‐responsive systems. However, the potential of these magnetically active glassy polymers to transport spin‐selective currents has not been demonstrated. Here, the spin‐transport characteristics of the radical polymer poly(4‐glycidyloxy‐2,2,6,6‐tetramethylpiperidine‐1‐oxyl) (PTEO) allow for sustained spin‐selective currents when incorporated into typical device geometries with magnetically polarized electrodes. Annealing thin films of PTEO above its glass transition temperature results in a giant magnetoresistance effect (i.e., an MR of ≈80%) at 4 K. Additionally, ferromagnetic resonance spin‐pumping results in a relatively large effective spin‐mixing conductance of 1.18 × 1019m−2at the NiFe/PTEO interface. Due to the large spin‐density and radical‐radical exchange interactions, there is effective propagation of pure spin currents through PTEO in the NiFe/PTEO/Pd multilayer devices. This results in the transport of spin current over long distances with a spin diffusion length of 90.4 nm. The spin diffusion length and spin mixing conductance values surpass those reported in inorganic and metallic systems and are comparable to conventional doped conjugated polymers. This is the first example of spin transport in a nonconjugated radical polymer, and these findings underscore the promising spin‐transporting potential of radical polymers.more » « less
 An official website of the United States government
An official website of the United States government 
				
			 
					 
					
 
                                    