Recent discoveries of large magnetoresistance in non-magnetic semiconductors have gained much attention because the size of the effect is comparable to, or even larger than, that of magnetoresistance in magnetic systems. Conventional magnetoresistance in doped semiconductors is straightforwardly explained as the effect of the Lorentz force on the carrier motion, but the reported unusually large effects imply that the underlying mechanisms have not yet been fully explored. Here we report that a simple device, based on a lightly doped silicon substrate between two metallic contacts, shows a large positive magnetoresistance of more than 1,000 per cent at room temperature (300 K) and 10,000 per cent at 25 K, for magnetic fields between 0 and 3 T. A high electric field is applied to the device, so that conduction is space-charge limited. For substrates with a charge carrier density below approximately 10(13) cm(-3), the magnetoresistance exhibits a linear dependence on the magnetic field between 3 and 9 T. We propose that the observed large magnetoresistance can be explained by quasi-neutrality breaking of the space-charge effect, where insufficient charge is present to compensate the electrons injected into the device. This introduces an electric field inhomogeneity, analogous to the situation in other semiconductors in which a large, non-saturating magnetoresistance was observed. In this regime, the motions of electrons become correlated, and thus become dependent on magnetic field. Although large positive magnetoresistance at room temperature has been achieved in metal-semiconductor hybrid devices, we have now realized it in a simpler structure and in a way different from other known magnetoresistive effects. It could be used to develop new magnetic devices from silicon, which may further advance silicon technology.

Inverse spin Hall effect (ISHE) allows the conversion of pure spin current into charge current in nonmagnetic materials (NM) due to spin-orbit interaction (SOI). In ferromagnetic materials (FM), SOI is known to contribute to anomalous Hall effect (AHE), anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR), and other spin-dependent transport phenomena. However, SOI in FM has been ignored in ISHE studies in spintronic devices, and the possibility of "self-induced ISHE" in FM has never been explored until now. In this paper, we demonstrate the experimental verification of ISHE in FM. We found that the spin-pumping-induced spin current in permalloy (Py) film generates a transverse electromotive force (EMF) in the film itself, which results from the coupling of spin current and SOI in Py. The control experiments ruled out spin rectification effect and anomalous Nernst effect as the origin of the EMF.Comment: 28 page, 5 figures, supplemental information (To appear in Physical Review B (Regular Article)

Large linear magnetoresistance (MR) in electron-injected p-type silicon at very low magnetic field is observed experimentally at room temperature. The large linear MR is induced in electron-dominated space-charge transport regime, where the magnetic field modulation of electron-to-hole density ratio controls the MR, as indicated by the magnetic field dependence of Hall coefficient in the silicon device. Contrary to the space-charge-induced MR effect in unipolar silicon device, where the large linear MR is inhomogeneity-induced, our results provide a different insight into the mechanism of large linear MR in non-magnetic semiconductors that is not based on the inhomogeneity model. This approach enables homogeneous semiconductors to exhibit large linear MR at low magnetic fields that until now has only been appearing in semiconductors with strong inhomogeneities.PACS number(s): 52.75. 71.35.Ee, 72.20.My, 85.30.Fg

We show that the large positive magnetoresistance in nonmagnetic silicon devices can be controlled by a current applied in the non-Ohmic transport regime. The experimental results indicate that the carrier transport in this regime is dominated by the space-charge effect, where the magnetoresistance effect is greatly enhanced. We propose a device concept based on the space-charge-induced magnetoresistance effect in silicon that is controlled by both the current and the magnetic field, which looks similar to the characteristics of the field-effect transistors.