Colossal magnetoresistance

About: Colossal magnetoresistance is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 3658 publications have been published within this topic receiving 130104 citations.

Giant magnetoresistance in antiferromagnetic Co/Cu multilayers

Abstract: We report giant values of saturation magnetoresistance in sputtered antiferromagnetic Co/Cu multilayers containing thin Co and Cu layers 8–10 A thick. We discuss the key importance of the buffer layer in controlling the growth of flat Co and Cu layers. As shown by cross‐section transmission electron microscopy high‐quality structures are found for growth on Fe buffer layers. Such structures display saturation magnetoresistance at 300 K of more than 65% with saturation fields of ≂10 kOe. These values are several times larger than previously found for any magnetic material at room temperature.

Electronic and ionic transport properties and other physical aspects of perovskites

Abstract: The perovskites and perovskite-related structures exhibit several features of technical as well as fundamental interest. Technically useful properties include oxide-ion conduction with/without electronic conduction, oxidation catalysis, ferroic displacements in classic and relaxor ferroelectrics, half-metallic ferromagnetism and high-temperature superconductivity. Of more fundamental interest is the ability to tune, by chemical substitution on the large-cation subarray, transition-metal oxides through the crossover on the transition-metal array from localized dn configurations to itinerant d-electron behaviour without/with changing the valence state of that array. The localized-electron configurations may exhibit cooperative Jahn–Teller distortions that introduce anisotropic exchange interactions. At crossover, bond-length fluctuations may segregate into an ordered array of alternating covalent and ionic bonding in a single-valent perovskite; multicentre polarons or correlation bags may replace small polarons in a mixed-valent system. Bond-length fluctuations at crossover give vibronic conduction and suppression of the phonon contribution to the thermal conductivity; the fluctuations may order, to give high-temperature superconductivity, or transform to quantum–critical-point behaviour at lowest temperatures. Crossover of σ-bonding electrons in the presence of localized spins associated with π-bonding electrons gives rise to the colossal magnetoresistance phenomenon above a ferromagnetic Curie temperature.

Strain-induced metal–insulator phase coexistence in perovskite manganites

Abstract: The coexistence of distinct metallic and insulating electronic phases within the same sample of a perovskite manganite1,2,3,4,5,6, such as La1-x-yPryCaxMnO3, presents researchers with a tool for tuning the electronic properties in materials. In particular, colossal magnetoresistance7 in these materials—the dramatic reduction of resistivity in a magnetic field—is closely related to the observed texture owing to nanometre- and micrometre-scale inhomogeneities1,2,3,4,5,6,8. Despite accumulated data from various high-resolution probes, a theoretical understanding for the existence of such inhomogeneities has been lacking. Mechanisms invoked so far, usually based on electronic mechanisms and chemical disorder9,10,11, have been inadequate to describe the multiscale, multiphase coexistence within a unified picture. Moreover, lattice distortions and long-range strains12,13 are known to be important in the manganites14. Here we show that the texturing can be due to the intrinsic complexity of a system with strong coupling between the electronic and elastic degrees of freedom. This leads to local energetically favourable configurations and provides a natural mechanism for the self-organized inhomogeneities over both nanometre and micrometre scales. The framework provides a physical understanding of various experimental results and a basis for engineering nanoscale patterns of metallic and insulating phases.

Pairing of charge-ordered stripes in (La,Ca)MnO 3

Abstract: The propensity of systems of charge and spin to form, under certain conditions, ‘stripe’ phases has recently attracted much attention, as it has been suggested that dynamically fluctuating stripe phases may be of central importance for an understanding of the physics of high-temperature superconductors1,2,3,4,5. A related phenomenon — static charge stripes — characterizes6 the insulating antiferromagnetic ground state of the manganese oxides, a class of materials which (like the copper oxide superconductors) have a perovskite structure, and are notable for their extraordinary electronic and magnetic properties, such as colossal magnetoresistance and charge ordering7,8. Here we report a different pattern of charge localization in the charge-ordered phase of the manganese oxide La1−xCaxMnO3 (x ⩾ 0.5). This pattern takes the form of extremely stable pairs of Mn3+O6 stripes, with associated large lattice contractions (due to the Jahn–Teller effect), separated periodically by stripes of non-distorted Mn4+O6 octahedra. These periodicities, which adopt integer values between 2 and 5 times the lattice parameter of the orthorhombic unit cell, correspond to the commensurate carrier concentrations (x = 1/2, 2/3, 3/4 and 4/5): for other values of x, the pattern of charge ordering is a mixture of the two adjacent commensurate configurations. These paired Jahn–Teller stripes appear therefore to be the fundamental building blocks of the charge-ordered state in the manganese oxides, and so may be expected to have profound implications for the magnetic and transport properties of these materials.

Electric modulation of conduction in multiferroic Ca-doped BiFeO3 films

Abstract: Many interesting materials phenomena such as the emergence of high-Tc superconductivity in the cuprates and colossal magnetoresistance in the manganites arise out of a doping-driven competition between energetically similar ground states. Doped multiferroics present a tantalizing evolution of this generic concept of phase competition. Here, we present the observation of an electronic conductor-insulator transition by control of band-filling in the model antiferromagnetic ferroelectric BiFeO3 through Ca doping. Application of electric field enables us to control and manipulate this electronic transition to the extent that a p-n junction can be created, erased and inverted in this material. A 'dome-like' feature in the doping dependence of the ferroelectric transition is observed around a Ca concentration of approximately 1/8, where a new pseudo-tetragonal phase appears and the electric modulation of conduction is optimized. Possible mechanisms for the observed effects are discussed on the basis of the interplay of ionic and electronic conduction. This observation opens the door to merging magnetoelectrics and magnetoelectronics at room temperature by combining electronic conduction with electric and magnetic degrees of freedom already present in the multiferroic BiFeO3.