In situ magnetoresistance of Ni nanocontacts

Authors

C-S Yang, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Chunjuan Zhang, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
Jody G. Redepenning, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Bernard Doudin, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

4-12-2004

Comments

Published in Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 84, No. 15, pp. 2865–2867, 12 April 2004.
http://apl.aip.org/apl/top.jsp doi:10.1063/1.1705723
Copyright © 2006 American Institute of Physics. Used by permission.

Abstract

Magnetoresistance properties of Ni nanocontacts in the ballistic quantum regime are investigated in situ during closure and opening of electrochemically grown planar electrodes. The magnitude of conductance change when sweeping the magnetic field is of the order of the quantum conductance e²/h for conductance values spanning 1–100 quanta. The relative orientation of electric current and applied magnetic field changes the magnetoresistance sign, with symmetry properties reminiscent of bulk anisotropy magnetoresistance. Ex situ investigations of samples of higher conductance values, of the order of 1000 quanta, unambiguously show the analogy with bulk anisotropy magnetoresistance.