Effect of "dipolar-biasing" on the tunability of tunneling magnetoresistance in transition metal oxide systems

Abstract

We observe an unusual tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) phenomenon in a composite of La$_{2/3}$Sr$_{1/3}$MnO$_{3}$ with CoFe$_{2}$O$_{4}$ where the TMR versus applied magnetic field loop suggests a "negative coercive field". Tracing its origin back to a "dipolar-biasing" of La$_{2/3}$Sr$_{1/3}$MnO$_{3}$ by CoFe$_{2}$O$_{4}$, we show that the TMR of even a single composite can be tuned continuously so that the resistance peak or the highest sensitivity of the TMR can be positioned anywhere on the magnetic field axis with a suitable magnetic history of the sample. This phenomenon of an unprecedented tunability of the TMR should be present in general in all such composites.