Magnetic and Electrical Properties of Hg1–x–MnxFeyTe1–zSz Crystals

Abstract

Electrical and magnetic properties of the semimagnetic semiconductor Hg_1–x–yMn_xFe_yTe_1–zS_z solid solutions were studied in the ranges of temperatures 77–320 K and magnetic fields 0.25–6 kOe. In the crystals under study, the effect of giant magnetoresistance was observed that reached 75% at low temperatures. This is due to the fact that charge carriers that participate in the current transfer interact with a magnetized ferromagnetic cluster subsystem (Fe–Fe–Fe) and become spin-polarized. It is these spin-polarized charge carriers that are strongly scattered on antiferromagnetic Mn–S–Mn–S and Mn–Te–Mn–Te clusters, since the magnetic moments inside the clusters and the resulting magnetic moments of these clusters are randomly oriented.