Magnetoresistance of mesoscopic granular ferromagnets
We have performed magnetoresistance (MR) measurements of granular ferromagnets having lateral dimensions smaller than 0.5 $μ$m and containing a small number of grains (down to about 100). Compared to macroscopic samples, these granular samples exhibit unusually large saturation fields and MR amplitudes. In addition, the evolution of the magnetoresistance curve as the intergrain distance decreases is qualitatively different than that of large samples. We discuss these results and suggest that they reflect a transition from percolation to quasi single-channel dominated transport.
cond-mat.mes-hall↗