Manipulating magnetism and transport properties of <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mrow><mml:msub><mml:mi>EuCd</mml:mi><mml:mn>2</mml:mn></mml:msub><mml:msub><mml:mi mathvariant="normal">P</mml:mi><mml:mn>2</mml:mn></mml:msub></mml:mrow></mml:math> with a low carrier concentration
Xiyu Chen, Ziwen Wang, Zhiyu Zhou, Wuzhang Yang, Yi Liu, Jia-Yi Lu, Zhi Ren, Guang‐Han Cao, Fazel Tafti, Shuai Dong, Zhicheng Wang
Abstract
Materials that exhibit strongly coupled magnetic order and electronic properties are crucial for both fundamental research and technological applications. However, finding a material that not only shows remarkable magnetoresistive responses but also has an easily tunable ground state remains a challenge. Here, we report successful manipulation of the magnetic and transport properties of ${\mathrm{EuCd}}_{2}{\mathrm{P}}_{2}$, which is transformed from an A-type antiferromagnet $({T}_{\mathrm{N}}=11\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\mathrm{K})$ exhibiting colossal magnetoresistance into a ferromagnet $({T}_{\mathrm{C}}=47\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\mathrm{K})$ with metallic behavior. The dramatic alteration results from a low hole concentration of ${10}^{19}\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\mathrm{c}{\mathrm{m}}^{\ensuremath{-}3}$ induced by changing the growth conditions. Electronic structure and total energy calculations confirm the tunability of magnetism with a small carrier concentration for ${\mathrm{EuCd}}_{2}{\mathrm{P}}_{2}$. It is feasible to switch between the magnetic states by using field-effect to control the carrier density, thereby changing the magneto-electronic response. The controllable magnetism and electrical transport of ${\mathrm{EuCd}}_{2}{\mathrm{P}}_{2}$ make it a potential candidate for spintronics.