Tunnel magnetoresistance in Co nanoparticle/Co-C compound hybrid system

Sakai, Seiji; Yakushiji, Kei*; Mitani, Seiji*; Takanashi, Koki*; Naramoto, Hiroshi; Avramov, P.; Narumi, Kazumasa; Lavrentiev, V.; Maeda, Yoshihito

In this study, the first results are described on the spin-dependent transport in the Co-C hybrid film in which Co nanoparticles are dispersed in a matrix of the Co-C compound. It is found that the hybrid film shows significant tunnel magnetoresistance (MR) of a few 10 %, which is comparable to granular metal-insulator systems, under the small applied bias voltage. Additionally, it is found that the electrical conductivity and MR ratio are strongly influenced by the bias voltage and the MR ratio under the higher bias voltage reaches 80%, which is anomalously high in granular systems. The bias-dependent magnetotransport behaviours are surmised to be related to the electronic structure of the Co-C compound.