Quantum correction to the anomalous Hall effect in PtMnGe thin films

Abstract

The role of quantum correction such as weak localization in anomalous Hall effects (AHEs) is an important issue. In this work, we have investigated the robust quantum correction to the AHE in magnetic PtMnGe (PMG) thin films of high crystalline quality. The PMG films have not shown long-range magnetic order. The observed temperature and magnetic field dependence of the sheet conductivities in the ultrathin PMG films are explained based on the perturbation theory, where the interplay of spin-dependent scattering and the spin Zeeman splitting effect are taken into consideration. It is found that, as long as the magnetic scattering time is comparable to the spin-orbit scattering time, the conductivity correction due to the Cooperons between antiparallel spins that involves spin-flip scattering can be negligible in the two dimensions. Therefore, even when the spin-dependent scattering exists, the quantum correction to the transport behavior is robust in the two-dimensional PMG system. Our work makes a significant step toward clarifying the role of quantum correction in the AHE of the magnetic materials.