Tunable magnetotransport through kinetically hindered first-order phase transitions in an antiferromagnetic metal

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that kinetically hindered first-order magnetic transitions in CeCoGe$_3$ enable stable, controllable multilevel resistive states, promising for memory and neuromorphic computing applications.

Contribution

It reveals how kinetically hindered magnetic transitions in an antiferromagnetic metal can be used to achieve multilevel resistive states for advanced memory technologies.

Findings

Cooling through the transition creates a magnetic glass with coexisting phases.

The phase fraction can be controlled by the cooling magnetic field.

Electrical resistance directly reflects the phase fraction, enabling multilevel states.

Abstract

Controllable multilevel resistance states are of interest for memory technologies like neuromorphic computing, but robust materials platforms toward such behavior remain limited. Here, we show that the non-centrosymmetric antiferromagnetic metal CeCoGe$_3$ suggests one such route through a kinetically hindered first-order magnetic transition. Cooling through the kinetically hindered first-order transition in an applied magnetic field produces a magnetic glass state in which high- and low-temperature magnetic phases coexist. The relative fraction of these phases can be controlled by the applied field in which the sample is cooled, and the electrical resistance is directly sensitive to that fraction. As a result, it is demonstrated that CeCoGe$_3$ supports stable multilevel resistive states. These results identify kinetically hindered first-order phase transitions as a promising route towards controllable multilevel magnetoresistive states.