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Insulator‐to‐Metal Transition and Isotropic Gigantic Magnetoresistance in Layered Magnetic Semiconductors

Acharya, Gokul [University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR (United States)] (ORCID:0009000683734529)·Neupane, Bimal [University of North Texas, Denton TX (United States)]·Hsu, Chia‐Hsiu [Nanyang Technological University (Singapore); Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) (Japan)]·Yang, Xian P. [Princeton University, NJ (United States)]·Graf, David [National High Magnetic Field Lab, Tallahassee, FL (United States)]·Choi, Eun Sang [National High Magnetic Field Lab, Tallahassee, FL (United States)]·Pandey, Krishna [University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR (United States)]·Nabi, Md Un [University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR (United States)]·Chhetri, Santosh Karki [University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR (United States)]·Basnet, Rabindra [University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR (United States)]·Rahman, Sumaya [University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR (United States)]·Wang, Jian [Wichita State University, KS (United States)]·Hu, Zhengxin [National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), Tsukuba (Japan); University of Cambridge (United Kingdom)]·Da, Bo [National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), Tsukuba (Japan)]·Churchill, Hugh H. [University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR (United States)]·Chang, Guoqing [Nanyang Technological University (Singapore)]·Hasan, M. Zahid [Princeton University, NJ (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)]·Wang, Yuanxi [University of North Texas, Denton, TX (United States)]·Hu, Jin [University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR (United States)]
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Abstract

Magnetotransport, the response of electrical conduction to external magnetic field, acts as an important tool to reveal fundamental concepts behind exotic phenomena and plays a key role in enabling spintronic applications. Magnetotransport is generally sensitive to magnetic field orientations. In contrast, efficient and isotropic modulation of electronic transport, which is useful in technology applications such as omnidirectional sensing, is rarely seen, especially for pristine crystals. Here a strategy is proposed to realize extremely strong modulation of electron conduction by magnetic field which is independent of field direction. GdPS, a layered antiferromagnetic semiconductor with resistivity anisotropies, supports a field-driven insulator-to-metal transition with a paradoxically isotropic gigantic negative magnetoresistance insensitive to magnetic field orientations. This isotropic magnetoresistance originates from the combined effects of a near-zero spin–orbit coupling of Gd 3+ -based half-filling ƒ-electron system and the strong on-site f – d exchange coupling in Gd atoms. These results not only provide a novel material system with extraordinary magnetotransport that offers a missing block for antiferromagnet-based ultrafast and efficient spintronic devices, but also demonstrate the key ingredients for designing magnetic materials with desired transport properties for advanced functionalities.

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36 MATERIALS SCIENCEexchange splittinginsulator-to-metal transitionisotropic magneto-transportmagnetoresistance

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Acharya, Gokul [University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR (United States)] (ORCID:0009000683734529), Neupane, Bimal [University of North Texas, Denton TX (United States)], Hsu, Chia‐Hsiu [Nanyang Technological University (Singapore); Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) (Japan)], Yang, Xian P. [Princeton University, NJ (United States)], Graf, David [National High Magnetic Field Lab, Tallahassee, FL (United States)], Choi, Eun Sang [National High Magnetic Field Lab, Tallahassee, FL (United States)], Pandey, Krishna [University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR (United States)], Nabi, Md Un [University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR (United States)], Chhetri, Santosh Karki [University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR (United States)], Basnet, Rabindra [University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR (United States)], Rahman, Sumaya [University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR (United States)], Wang, Jian [Wichita State University, KS (United States)], Hu, Zhengxin [National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), Tsukuba (Japan); University of Cambridge (United Kingdom)], Da, Bo [National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), Tsukuba (Japan)], Churchill, Hugh H. [University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR (United States)], Chang, Guoqing [Nanyang Technological University (Singapore)], Hasan, M. Zahid [Princeton University, NJ (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)], Wang, Yuanxi [University of North Texas, Denton, TX (United States)], Hu, Jin [University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR (United States)]. 2024-10-11. Insulator‐to‐Metal Transition and Isotropic Gigantic Magnetoresistance in Layered Magnetic Semiconductors. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202410655

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