Observation of large low‐field magnetoresistance in spinel cobaltite: A new half‐metal

Low‐field magnetoresistance is an effective and energy‐saving way to use half‐metallic materials in magnetic reading heads and magnetic random access memory. Common spin‐polarized materials with low field magnetoresistance effect are perovskite‐type manganese, cobalt, and molybdenum oxides. In this study, we report a new type of spinel cobaltite materials, self‐assembled nanocrystalline NiCo₂O₄, which shows large low field magnetoresistance as large as –19.1% at 0.5 T and –50% at 9 T (2 K). The large low field magnetoresistance is attributed to the fast magnetization rotation of the core nanocrystals. The surface spin‐glass is responsible for the observed weak saturation of magnetoresistance under high fields. Our calculation demonstrates that the half‐metallicity of NiCo₂O₄ comes from the hopping e_g electrons within the tetrahedral Co‐atoms and the octahedral Ni‐atoms. The discovery of large low‐field magnetoresistance in simple spinel oxide NiCo₂O₄, a non‐perovskite oxide, leads to an extended family of low‐field magnetoresistance materials. (© 2016 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH &Co. KGaA, Weinheim)