The out-of-plane magnetoresistance in a Van der Waals thin film of WTe2

TL;DR

This study investigates the magnetoresistance properties of thin film WTe2, revealing large in-plane and saturated out-of-plane magnetoresistance, with insights from quantum oscillations that could impact spintronics device design.

Contribution

It provides new experimental data on out-of-plane magnetoresistance in WTe2 thin films and analyzes quantum oscillations to understand their origin, advancing knowledge in topological semimetal transport.

Findings

Large unsaturated in-plane magnetoresistance at low temperatures

Saturated out-of-plane magnetoresistance with perpendicular magnetic fields

Distinct Shubnikov-de Haas oscillation peaks in in-plane and out-of-plane directions

Abstract

We report the magneto-transport measurements of thin film devices of the topological Weyl semimetal WTe2 with the applied current along and vertical to the in-plane directions. The device is composed of a Van der Waals thin film of WTe2 sandwiched between top and bottom Au electrodes.At low temperatures, we found a large unsaturated in-plane magnetoresistance and a saturated out-of-plane magnetoresistance when the external magnetic fields are applied perpendicular to the plane. By analysis of Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations, one oscillation peak is found in the out-of-plane magnetoresistance, in contrast to four oscillation peaks in the in-plane magnetoresistance.Our work provides new insight into the origin of the unsaturated magnetoresistance in WTe2 and may inspire non-planar engineering to reach higher integration in spintronics.