Insulator‐to‐Metal Transition and Isotropic Gigantic Magnetoresistance in Layered Magnetic Semiconductors
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<sup>3+</sup>-based half-filling f-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.
Authors
- Rabindra Basnet (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5511-3155)
- Bo Da (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0785-8662)
- M. Zahid Hasan
- Xiàn Yáng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5019-374X)
- Jin Hu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0080-4239)
- K. C. Pandey (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0870-1277)
- Yuanxi Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0659-1134)
- Md Rafique Un Nabi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5942-7901)
- Guoqing Chang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1180-3127)
- Gokul Acharya (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-8373-4529)
- Sumaya Rahman
- David E Graf (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6195-0462)
- Santosh Karki Chhetri (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1858-6655)
- Bimal Neupane (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0020-1449)
- Jian Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1326-4470)
- Zhengxin Hu
- Hugh Churchill (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8287-1373)
- Eun Sang Choi
- Chia‐Hsiu Hsu
Institutions
- University of North Texas (US)
- Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (JP)
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (US)
- Nanyang Technological University (SG)
- Princeton University (US)
- National Institute for Materials Science (JP)
- University of Cambridge (GB)
- Wichita State University (US)
- National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (US)
- University of Arkansas at Fayetteville (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Advanced Materials
- Published
- 2024-10-11
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202410655
- Citations
- 10
- Primary Topic
- Magnetic and transport properties of perovskites and related materials
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.18
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- U.S. Department of Energy
- Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
- Princeton University
- Adolph C. and Mary Sprague Miller Institute for Basic Research in Science, University of California Berkeley
- University of North Texas
- Montana State University
- National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
- National Research Foundation
- Agency for Science, Technology and Research
- National Research Foundation Singapore
- Ministry of Education - Singapore
- Nanyang Technological University
- Ministry of Education, India
- Hitachi Global Foundation
- Office of Science
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
- National Institute for Materials Science
- Division of Materials Research
- Basic Energy Sciences
- High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Chinese Academy of Sciences
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory