Giant anomalous Hall effect in Fe-based microwires grown by focused-electron-beam-induced deposition

Abstract

We report the temperature dependence of the resistivity, the anisotropic magnetoresistance and the Hall effect of iron microwires grown by focused-electron-beam-induced deposition. By modifying the growth conditions in a controllable way, we study wires with iron compositions varying from 45% to 70%, which present different electrical conduction mechanisms, with resistivity values differing over three orders of magnitude. The magnetoresistance depends highly on the composition, and it can be understood by a subtle interplay between the anisotropic magnetoresistance and intergrain magnetoresistance due to their complex microstructure, consisting of an ironcarbonoxygen amorphous matrix. A giant value for the anomalous Hall effect is found, which we explain by a large contribution of the skew scattering mechanism. The present results emphasize the correlation between the exotic microstructure of the microwires, and their magnetotransport properties. © 2012 IOP Publishing Ltd.