Bipolaron mechanism for organic magnetoresistance

We present a mechanism for the recently discovered magnetoresistance in disordered pi-conjugated materials, based on hopping of polarons and bipolaron formation, in the presence of the random hyperfine fields of the hydrogen nuclei and an external magnetic field. Within a simple model we describe the magnetic field dependence of the bipolaron density. Monte Carlo simulations including on-site and longer-range Coulomb repulsion show how this leads to positive and negative magnetoresistance. Depending on the branching ratio between bipolaron formation or dissociation and hopping rates, two different line shapes in excellent agreement with experiment are obtained.     

Weak anisotropy and disorder dependence of the in-plane magnetoresistance in high-mobility (100) Si-inversion layers

We report studies of the magnetoresistance (MR) in a two-dimensional electron system in (100) Si-inversion layers, for perpendicular and parallel orientations of the current with respect to the magnetic field in the 2D plane. The magnetoresistance is almost isotropic; this result does not support the suggestion of its orbital origin. In the hopping regime, however, the MR contains a weak anisotropic component that is nonmonotonic in the magnetic field. We found that the field, at which the MR saturates, varies for different samples by a factor of 2 at a given carrier density. Therefore, the saturation of the MR cannot be identified with the complete spin polarization of free carriers.     

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)     

Spin-flip induced magnetoresistance in positionally disordered organic solids

A model for magnetoresistance in positionally disordered organic materials is presented and solved using percolation theory. The model describes the effects of spin dynamics on hopping transport by considering changes in the effective density of hopping sites, a key quantity determining the properties of percolative transport. Faster spin-flip transitions open up "spin-blocked" pathways to become viable conduction channels and hence produce magnetoresistance. Features of this percolative magnetoresistance can be found analytically in several regimes, and agree with previous measurements, including the sensitive dependence of the magnetic-field dependence of the magnetoresistance on the ratio of the carrier hopping time to the hyperfine-induced carrier spin precession time. Studies of magnetoresistance in known systems with controllable positional disorder would provide an additional stringent test of this theory.     

Colossal magnetoresistance by avoiding a ferromagnetic state in the Mott system Ca3Ru2O7

Transport and magnetic studies of Ca3Ru2O7 for temperatures ranging from 0.4 to 56 K and magnetic fields B up to 45 T lead to strikingly different behavior when the field is applied along the different crystal axes. A ferromagnetic (FM) state with full spin polarization is achieved for the B//a axis, but colossal magnetoresistance is realized only for the B//b axis. For the B//c axis, Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations are observed and followed by a less resistive state than that for B//a. Hence, in contrast with standard colossal magnetoresistive materials, the FM phase is the least favorable for electron hopping. These properties together with highly unusual spin-charge-lattice coupling near the Mott transition (48 K) are driven by the orbital degrees of freedom.     

Organic magnetoresistance and spin diffusion in organic semiconductor thin film devices

We review recent work in the field of organic spintronics, focusing on our own contributions to this field. There are two principle magnetoresistance effects that occur in organic devices. (i) Organic magnetoresistance (OMAR), which occurs in nonmagnetic organic semiconductor devices. For example, in devices made from the prototypical small molecule Alq₃ OMAR reaches values of 10% or more at room temperature. (ii) Organic spin‐valve effects that occur in devices that employ ferromagnetic electrodes for spin‐polarized current injection and detection. We undertake an analysis of these two types of magnetoresistance with the goal of identifying the dominant spin‐scattering mechanism. Analysis of OMAR reveals that hyperfine coupling is the dominant spin‐coupling mechanism. Spin–orbit coupling, on the other hand, is important only in organic semiconductor materials containing heavy atoms. We explore the reasons why spin–orbit coupling is relatively unimportant in hydrocarbon materials. Next, we present a theory for spin diffusion in disordered organic semiconductors based on hyperfine coupling, taking into account a combination of incoherent carrier hopping and coherent spin precession in the random hyperfine magnetic fields. We compare our findings with experimental values for the spin‐diffusion length. Finally, we demonstrate a criterion that allows the determination whether the organic spin‐valves operate in the tunneling or injection regimes. (© 2012 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Giant magnetoresistance in the variable-range hopping regime

We predict the universal power-law dependence of the localization length on the magnetic field in the strongly localized regime. This effect is due to the orbital quantum interference. Physically, this dependence shows up in an anomalously large negative magnetoresistance in the hopping regime. The reason for the universality is that the problem of the electron tunneling in a random media belongs to the same universality class as the directed polymer problem even in the case of wave functions of random sign. We present numerical simulations that prove this conjecture. We discuss the existing experiments that show anomalously large magnetoresistance. We also discuss the role of localized spins in real materials and the spin polarizing effect of the magnetic field.     

Hopping magnetotransport via nonzero orbital momentum states and organic magnetoresistance

In hopping magnetoresistance of doped insulators, an applied magnetic field shrinks the electron (hole) s-wave function of a donor or an acceptor and this reduces the overlap between hopping sites resulting in the positive magnetoresistance quadratic in a weak magnetic field, B. We extend the theory of hopping magnetoresistance to states with nonzero orbital momenta. Different from s states, a weak magnetic field expands the electron (hole) wave functions with positive magnetic quantum numbers, m>0, and shrinks the states with negative m in a wide region outside the point defect. This together with a magnetic-field dependence of injection/ionization rates results in a negative weak-field magnetoresistance, which is linear in B when the orbital degeneracy is lifted. The theory provides a possible explanation of a large low-field magnetoresistance in disordered π-conjugated organic materials.     

The effects of electric and magnetic fields on the current spin polarization and magnetoresistance in a ferromagnetic/organic semiconductor/ferromagnetic（FM/OSC/FM） system

From experimental results of spin polarized injection and transport in organic semiconductors(OSCs),we theoretically study the current spin polarization and magnetoresistance under an electric and a magnetic field in a ferromagnetic/organic semiconductor/ferromagnetic(FM/OSC/FM) sandwich structure according to the spin drift-diffusion theory and Ohm’s law.From the calculations,it is found that the interfacial current spin polarization is enhanced by several orders of magnitude through tuning the magnetic and electric fields by taking into account the specific characteristics of OSC.Furthermore,the effects of the electric and magnetic fields on the magnetoresistance are also discussed in the sandwich structure.     

Effect of Rashba spin–orbit coupling on the spin polarized transport in diluted magnetic semiconductor barrier structures

We investigate theoretically the effects of Rashba spin–orbit coupling on the spin dependent transport through diluted magnetic semiconductor single and double barrier structures in the presence of a magnetic field. We find that the Rashba spin–orbit coupling gives rise to an enhancement of the negative tunnelling magnetoresistance of the diluted magnetic semiconductor single barrier structure and a pronounced beating pattern in the tunnelling magnetoresistance and spin polarization of the diluted magnetic semiconductor double barrier structure.     

Negative magnetoresistance in the regime of hopping conduction through <Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis> states at quantum dots

The magnetoresistance in the system of quantum dots with hopping conduction and filling factor 2 < ν < 3 in the limit of small quantum dots has been considered. In this case, hopping conduction is determined by p states. It has been shown that the system exhibits negative magnetoresistance associated with a change in the wavefunctions of p states in a magnetic field. This mechanism of magnetoresistance is linear in magnetic field in a certain range of fields and can compete with the known interference mechanism of magnetoresistance. The magnitude of this magnetoresistance is independent of the temperature at fairly low temperatures and increases with a decrease in the size of a quantum dot.     

Hall resistivity in ferromagnetic manganese-oxide compounds

The transport properties of manganese-oxides are studied using the spin correlation fluctuation scattering mechanism. It is shown that the Hall resistivity in a small magnetic field exhibits a maximum near the Curie point, and a strong field shifts the peak position to high temperature and suppresses the peak value; the dependence of the Hall resistivity on the magnetic field above T_c and below T_c is different. These results agree with the experimental curves qualitatively, but disagree quantitatively, which indicates that the spin correlation fluctuation scattering might not be the dominant mechanism of the colossal magnetoresistance. The double polaron mechanism due to strong electron-phonon and electron-spin coupling is proposed to be responsible for the colossal magnetoresistance in manganese-oxides.     

Magnetoresistance due to edge spin accumulation

Because of spin-orbit interaction, an electrical current is accompanied by a spin current resulting in spin accumulation near the sample edges. Due again to spin-orbit interaction this causes a small decrease of the sample resistance. An applied magnetic field will destroy the edge spin polarization leading to a positive magnetoresistance. This effect provides means to study spin accumulation by electrical measurements. The origin and the general properties of the phenomenological equations describing coupling between charge and spin currents are also discussed.     

稀土锰氧化物的低场磁电阻效应

具有庞磁电阻效应的掺杂稀土锰氧化物因为其高的自旋极化率和自旋极化输运行为而表现出显著的低场磁电阻效应。这一效应在氧化物自旋电子学中有着深远的潜在应用前景。本文综述了国内外近年来在锰氧化物低场磁电阻增强这一研究领域的进展和存在的一些问题。全文分三个部分，首先概述了基于自旋极化散射和自旋极化隧穿两种输运机制的磁电阻理论；然后重点介绍掺杂稀土锰氧化物低场磁电阻增强的主要研究进展，这些进展背后的基本物理图象是通过人为引入自旋无序介质形成自旋极化散射和自旋极化隧穿，从而增强其低场磁电阻；第三部分讨论了基于掺杂稀土锰氧化物的磁性隧道结制备和输运性质。本文最后提出了锰氧化物低场磁电阻增强研究应该关注的一些物理问题。     

Hopping conductivity and Coulomb correlations in 2D arrays of Ge/Si quantum dots

The temperature and magnetic-field dependences of the conductivity associated with hopping transport of holes over a 2D array of Ge/Si(001) quantum dots with various filling factors are studied experimentally. A transition from the Éfros-Shklovski? law for the temperature dependence of hopping conductivity to the Arrhenius law with an activation energy equal to 1.0–1.2 meV is observed upon a decrease in temperature. The activation energy for the low-temperature conductivity increases with the magnetic field and attains saturation in fields exceeding 4 T. It is found that the magnetoresistance in layers of quantum dots is essentially anisotropic: the conductivity decreases in an increasing magnetic field oriented perpendicularly to a quantum dot layer and increases in a magnetic field whose vector lies in the plane of the sample. The absolute values of magnetoresistance for transverse and longitudinal field orientations differ by two orders of magnitude. The experimental results are interpreted using the model of many-particle correlations of holes localized in quantum dots, which lead to the formation of electron polarons in a 2D disordered system.     

Positive magnetoresistance peaked at a ferromagnetic transition in Mn-doped GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells

A large positive magnetoresistance peaked at the Curie temperature has been observed in quantum well structures GaAs/AlGaAs doped by Mn. We suggest a new mechanism of magnetoresistance within low T _c ferromagnets resulting from a pronounced dependence of spin polarization at the vicinity of T _c on the external magnetic field. As a result, any contribution to resistance dependent on the Zeeman splitting of the spin subbands is amplified with respect to the direct effect of the external field. In our case we believe that the corresponding contribution is related to the upper Hubbard band. We propose that the mechanism considered here can be exploited as the mark of ferromagnetic transition.     

Negative spin polarization of Fe3O4 in magnetite/manganite-based junctions

Epitaxial oxide trilayer junctions composed of magnetite (Fe3O4) and doped manganite (La0.7Sr0.3MnO3) exhibit inverse magnetoresistance as large as -25% in fields of 4 kOe. The inverse magnetoresistance confirms the theoretically predicted negative spin polarization of Fe3O4. Transport through the barrier can be understood in terms of hopping transport through localized states that preserve electron spin information. The junction magnetoresistance versus temperature curve exhibits a peak around 60 K that is explained in terms of the paramagnetic to ferrimagnetic transition of the CoCr2O4 barrier.     

Quantum spin transport through Aharonov--Bohm ring with a tangent magnetic field

Quantum spin transport in a mesoscopic Aharonov--Bohm ring with two leads subject to a magnetic field with circular configuration is investigated by means of one-dimensional quantum waveguide theory.Within the framework of Landauer--B\"{u}ttiker formalism, the polarization direction of transmitted electrons can be controlled either by the AB magnetic flux or by the tangent magnetic field. In particular, the spin flips can be induced by hopping the AB magnetic flux or the tangent field.     

Low temperature resistivity minimum and its correlation with magnetoresistance in La0.67Ba0.33MnO3 nanomanganites

A systematic investigation of structural, magnetic and electrical properties of nanocrystalline La_0.67Ba_0.33MnO₃ materials, prepared by citrate gel method has been undertaken. The temperature-dependant low-temperature resistivity in ferromagnetic metallic (∼50 K) phase shows upturn behavior and is suppressed with applied magnetic field. The experimental data (<75 K) can be best fitted in the frame work of Kondo-like spin-dependant scattering, electron-electron and electron-phonon interactions. It has been found that upturn behavior may be attributed to weak spin disorder scattering including both spin polarization and grain boundary tunneling effects, which are the characteristic features of extrinsic magnetoresistance behavior, generally found in nanocrystalline manganites. The variation of electrical resistivity with temperature in the high temperature ferromagnetic metallic part of electrical resistivity (75K<T<T_P) has been fitted with grain/domain boundary, electron-electron and magnon scattering mechanisms, while the insulating region (T>T_P) of resistivity data has been explained based on adiabatic small polaron hopping mechanism.     

磁场下合成Fe3O4粉体的隧道磁阻

通过在半金属Fe₃O₄合成过程中外加磁场的方法，改变样品粒子的表面结晶状态和晶格缺陷，研究了由此引起的Fe₃O₄输运性质的变化.合成的Fe₃O₄粉体的主要导电机理均为自旋极化隧穿和高阶跃迁电导，电阻随温度升高成指数降低，电阻与电压显示了非线形相关性，磁阻与磁场的关系为蝴蝶形，是典型的隧道磁阻特征.与没有外加磁场时合成的样品比较，外加磁场合成的样品显示了更低的电阻和更高的磁阻.