Synopsis

Intrinsic anomalous Hall current is scattering free

Physics 3, s21
New experiments indicate that the intrinsic regime of the anomalous Hall effect is independent of scattering.
Illustration: Alan Stonebraker

The anomalous Hall effect is an intriguing variant of the ordinary Hall effect, in which a magnetic field applied through a conductor causes a voltage to arise perpendicular to it. For ferromagnets, the magnetization of the conductor causes another contribution to the Hall effect, larger than the ordinary Hall effect, hence the anomaly. The effect is too big to be the simple result of the addition of the magnetization to the applied magnetic field, and the debate continues regarding the cause of the anomalous Hall effect in ferromagnetic materials. Recent experimental and theoretical works show that the anomalous Hall effect is mostly caused by the Berry phase of band electrons.

In a paper published in Physical Review B, Yuki Shiomi, Yoshinori Onose, and Yoshinori Tokura of the University of Tokyo, Japan, have investigated the effect of scattering on the intrinsic anomalous Hall effect in iron, nickel, and cobalt, and their related alloys. They separate out the regular Hall effect from its anomalous counterpart and find the transition from scattering-dependent to scattering-free behavior with decreasing resistivity. The results indicate that the Berry phase induced anomalous Hall effect is not affected by scattering in clean samples. – Daniel Ucko


Subject Areas

MagnetismSpintronics

Related Articles

Antiferromagnet Magnetized with Light
Magnetism

Antiferromagnet Magnetized with Light

Researchers show they can magnetize an antiferromagnet using terahertz light, switching the state on a million times faster than is possible for other magnetic states. Read More »

Mapping Spin Waves with a Strobe Light
Condensed Matter Physics

Mapping Spin Waves with a Strobe Light

A method for imaging spin waves in magnetic materials uses flash-like intensity variations in a laser beam to capture the wave motion at specific moments in time. Read More »

Spin Control in a Levitating Diamond
Magnetism

Spin Control in a Levitating Diamond

By manipulating and detecting nuclear spins in a tiny floating diamond, scientists have reported a record-long spin coherence time for a levitated system. Read More »

More Articles