Two-staged magnetoresistance driven by the Ising-like spin sublattice in SrCo6O11

Phys Rev Lett. 2007 May 25;98(21):217201. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.98.217201. Epub 2007 May 22.

Abstract

A two-staged, uniaxial magnetoresistive effect has been discovered in SrCo6O11 having a layered hexagonal structure. Conduction electrons and localized Ising spins are in different sublattices but their interpenetration makes the conduction electrons sensitively pick up the stepwise field dependence of magnetization. The stepwise field dependence suggests two competitive interlayer interactions between ferromagnetic Ising-spin layers, i.e., a ferromagnetic nearest-layer interaction and an antiferromagnetic next-nearest-layer interaction. This oxide offers a unique opportunity to study nontrivial interplay between conduction electrons and Ising spins, the coupling of which can be finely controlled by a magnetic field of a few Tesla.