Interplane Tunneling Magnetoresistance in a Layered Manganite Crystal

Abstract

The current-perpendicular-to-plane magnetoresistance (CPP-MR) has been investigated for the layered manganite, La2-2xSr1+2xMn2O7 (x = 0.3), which is composed of the ferromagnetic-metallic MnO2 bilayers separated by nonmagnetic insulating block layers. The CPP-MR is extremely large (10(4) percent at 50 kilo-oersted) at temperatures near above the three-dimensional ordering temperature (Tc approximately 90 kelvin) because of the field-induced coherent motion between planes of the spin-polarized electrons. Below Tc, the interplane magnetic domain boundary on the insulating block layer serves as the charge-transport barrier, but it can be removed by a low saturation field, which gives rise to the low-field tunneling MR as large as 240 percent.