GIANT MAGNETORESISTANCE IN HG1-XCDXTE AND APPLICATIONS FOR HIGH-DENSITY MAGNETIC RECORDING

Mercury cadmium telluride (Hg1-xCdxTe) compounds show giant magnetores istance (GMR) due to their very high carrier mobilities. At low field st GMR with anomalously high curvature is observed. Doping with indium yields n-type material with GMR, measured in a Hallbar geometry, whic h is smaller than that measured in the undoped compounds, as well as a marked reduction of the carrier mobility. However, Corbino-disk geome try samples show a very large low-field GMR (Delta R/R approximate to 10% at H = 500 G). Moreover, a Hall voltage contribution to the GMR du e to microscopic inhomogeneities generates a zero-field offset in the Corbino-disk GMR which gives a built-in bias field as high as H-0 = 15 00 G at T = 300 K. These properties make Hg1-xCdxTe:In attractive for applications in read-head devices for high-density magnetic media. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.