Planar Hall effect of indium antimonide thin film on silicon and nickel–zinc ferrite substrates

Abstract

We have investigated Hall and planar Hall (PH) effect of indium antimonide (InSb) films thermally evaporated on two different substrates including Si and soft magnetic Ni–Zn ferrite. Polycrystalline InSb film with an average grain size of 1.2 μm shows substantial electron mobility of 6,700 cm2/Vs for Si and 5,680 cm2/Vs for Ni–Zn ferrite substrates respectively. Four-point bridge type Hall bar of InSb was fabricated using photolithography followed by chemical wet etch. An abrupt change in PH deviated from a normal PH curve was found on a ferrite substrate within a low field range of −50 to 50 Oe while no change happens on the Si substrate. Sharp PH curve immediately returns to the ordinary PH curve when applied field goes over −50 to 50 Oe without leaving any hysteresis of resistance. This is mainly attributed to the presence of the Bloch wall of Ni–Zn ferrite underneath InSb Hall bar. Intragranular domain wall movement is believed to be a prime source of the anomalous PH behavior in the low field range. The linear field dependence of PH in a resolution of 10 mΩ/Oe is sensitive high enough to be used as low-field magnetic sensors.