Anomalous Hall effect in NiPt thin films

TL;DR

This study investigates the anomalous Hall effect in NiPt thin films, revealing a sign change at the critical Ni concentration linked to electronic structure reconstruction during a quantum phase transition.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed analysis of Hall effects across different magnetic phases in NiPt thin films, highlighting the electronic structure changes at the quantum critical point.

Findings

Hall effect sign change at critical Ni concentration

Different magnetic behaviors depending on Ni content

Transition from paramagnetic to ferromagnetic states

Abstract

We study Hall effect in sputtered NixPt1-x thin films with different Ni concentrations. Temperature, magnetic field and angular dependencies are analyzed and the phase diagram of NiPt thin films is obtained. It is found that films with sub-critical Ni concentration exhibit cluster-glass behavior at low temperatures with a perpendicular magnetic anisotropy below the freezing temperature. Films with over-critical Ni concentration are ferromagnetic with parallel anisotropy. At the critical concentration the state of the film is strongly frustrated. Such films demonstrate canted magnetization with the easy axis rotating as a function of temperature. The magnetism appears via consecutive paramagnetic - cluster glass - ferromagnetic transitions, rather than a single second-order phase transition. But most remarkably, the extraordinary Hall effect changes sign at the critical concentration. We suggest that this is associated with a reconstruction of the electronic structure of the alloy at the normal metal - ferromagnet quantum phase transition.