Metal-insulator transition and giant anisotropic magnetoresistance in ultra thin (Ga,Mn)As

TL;DR

This study investigates the metal-insulator transition and giant anisotropic magnetoresistance in ultra-thin GaMnAs films, revealing how magnetization orientation influences electrical resistance due to spin-orbit interactions.

Contribution

It reports the observation of GAMR in ultra-thin GaMnAs films and links it to anisotropic spin-orbit coupling effects, a novel insight into magnetic and electronic interplay.

Findings

Metal-insulator transition occurs below 10K with sheet resistance ~h/e2.

GAMR reaches up to 50% near 1.7K depending on magnetization orientation.

GAMR is attributed to anisotropic spin-orbit interaction causing resistance states.

Abstract

MBE-grown, 5 nm-thick annealed Ga0.95Mn0.05As films with Tc~90K demonstrate transition from metallic to insulating state below To~10K, where sheet resistances Rsh~h/e2 and both longitudinal Rxx and transverse Rxy components become comparable. Below metal-insulator transition we found giant anisotropic magnetoresistance (GAMR), which depends on orientation of magnetization to crystallographic axes and manifests itself in positive magnetoresistance near 50% for Rxx at T=1.7K, H//[110] crystallographic direction and parallel to current in contrast to smaller and negative magnetoresistance for H// direction. We connect GAMR with anisotropic spin-orbit interaction resulting in formation of high- and low- resistance states with different localization along non-equivalent easy axes.