Intrinsic Mechanism for Anisotropic Magnetoresistance and Experimental Confirmation in Co_{x}Fe_{1-x} Single-Crystal Films

Phys Rev Lett. 2020 Aug 28;125(9):097201. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.097201.

Abstract

Using first-principles transport calculations, we predict that the anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR) of single-crystal Co_{x}Fe_{1-x} alloys is strongly dependent on the current orientation and alloy concentration. An intrinsic mechanism for AMR is found to arise from the band crossing due to magnetization-dependent symmetry protection. These special k points can be shifted towards or away from the Fermi energy by varying the alloy composition and hence the exchange splitting, thus allowing AMR tunability. The prediction is confirmed by delicate transport measurements, which further reveal a reciprocal relationship of the longitudinal and transverse resistivities along different crystal axes.