Magnetoresistance and anomalous Hall effect in magnetic ZnO films

Abstract

Magnetotransport measurements were performed on n-type conducting Co-doped ZnO and Mn-doped ZnO films prepared by pulsed laser deposition on a-plane sapphire substrates, and positive magnetoresistance (MR) was observed at low temperature. The positive MR decreases drastically with the free electron concentration n exceeding 1019cm−3 and reveals almost the same dependency on n for Co-doped ZnO and Mn-doped ZnO. This hints towards a similar s-d exchange constant in both types of magnetic ZnO films. For Co-doped ZnO, the saturated anomalous Hall resistivity increases with decreasing electron concentration. No anomalous Hall effect was observed in Mn-doped ZnO. Within a free electron approximation the positive MR may be related with the spin polarization of conducting electrons due to s-d exchange interactions. The modeled spin splitting of the conduction band is smaller than 10meV.