Transverse Magnetoresistance of Zn$_{0.9}$Co$_{0.1}$O:Al Thin Films

Abstract

The transverse magnetoresistance of thin films of the Diluted Magnetic Semiconductor Zn$_{1-x}$Co$_{x}$O:Al on glass was studied for temperatures in the range of 5 to 100 K. Measurements were made on thin films grown by rf magnetron sputtering, with a thickness of approximately 200 nm. ZnO was alloyed with Co to a concentration $x$ of 0.1 and co-doped with a 5.5% wt concentration of Al. The electrical resistivity was measured along the sample surface by the four-point probe method with a magnetic field of up to 4 T applied perpendicular to the surface of the film. The experimental results of the magnetoresistance have been interpreted by means of a semiclassical model that combines a relaxation-time approximation to describe scattering processes in ZnO and a phenomenological approach to the spin-disorder scattering due to the indirect exchange interaction of the magnetic impurities.