Quasi-isotropic orbital magnetoresistance in lightly doped SrTiO3

A magnetic field parallel to an electrical current does not produce a Lorentz force on the charge carriers. Therefore, orbital longitudinal magnetoresistance is unexpected. Here we report on the observation of a large and nonsaturating magnetoresistance in lightly doped SrTiO3-x independent of the relative orientation of current and magnetic field. We show that this quasi-isotropic magnetoresistance can be explained if the carrier mobility along all orientations smoothly decreases with magnetic field. This anomalous regime is restricted to low concentrations when the dipolar correlation length is shorter than the distance between carriers. We identify cyclotron motion of electrons in a potential landscape tailored by polar domains as the cradle of quasi-isotropic orbital magnetoresistance. The result emerges as a challenge to theory and may be a generic feature of lightly doped quantum paralectric materials.

Automated summary

The research reports the observation of large and nonsaturating magnetoresistance in lightly doped SrTiO3-x, independent of the relative orientation of current and magnetic field. This phenomenon can be explained by the carrier mobility smoothly decreasing with magnetic field in all orientations. It is restricted to low concentrations and may be a generic feature of lightly doped quantum paraelectric materials.