Experimental Investigation of the Nature of the Magnetoresistance Effects in Pd-YIG Hybrid Structures

In bilayers consisting of Pd and yttrium iron garnet (Y3Fe5O12 or YIG), we observe vanishingly small room-temperature conventional anisotropic magnetoresistance but large new magnetoresistance that is similar to the spin Hall magnetoresistance previously reported in Pt-YIG bilayers. We report a temperature dependence study of the two magnetoresistance effects in Pt-YIG bilayers. As the temperature is decreased, the new magnetoresistance shows a peak, whereas the anisotropic magnetoresistance effect starts to appear and increases monotonically. We find that the magnetoresistance peak shifts to lower temperatures in thicker Pd samples, a feature characteristic of the spin current effect. The distinct temperature dependence reveals fundamentally different mechanisms responsible for the two effects in such hybrid structures.