Magnetic properties and tunneling magnetoresistance effect in Fe-CdFeS granular films

Granular thin film samples composed of Fe clusters embedded in CdFeS were prepared with using low pressure metal organic chemical vapor deposition. Temperature dependence of the resistivity of the granular film follows well the relationship for the tunneling transport between the iron granules. A large negative magnetoresistance of about 2.2% at 0.1 T was observed at room temperature due to the presence of Fe clusters. The hysteresis behavior observed in the magnetoresistance corresponded exactly to those of the hysteresis loop in the magnetization measurement, which evidently showed the correlation between the magnetoresistance and global magnetization in the sample. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.