Planar Hall effect of indium antimonide thin film on silicon and nickel-zinc ferrite substrates

Abstract

We have investigated Hall and planar Hall (PH) effect of indium antimonide (InSb) films thermally evaporated on two different substrates including Si and soft magnetic Ni-Zn ferrite. Polycrystalline InSb film with an average grain size of 1.2 mu m shows substantial electron mobility of 6,700 cm(2)/Vs for Si and 5,680 cm(2)/Vs for Ni-Zn ferrite substrates respectively. Four-point bridge type Hall bar of InSb was fabricated using photolithography followed by chemical wet etch. An abrupt change in PH deviated from a normal PH curve was found on a ferrite substrate within a low field range of -50 to 50 Oe while no change happens on the Si substrate. Sharp PH curve immediately returns to the ordinary PH curve when applied field goes over -50 to 50 Oe without leaving any hysteresis of resistance. This is mainly attributed to the presence of the Bloch wall of Ni-Zn ferrite underneath InSb Hall bar. Intragranular domain wall movement is believed to be a prime source of the anomalous PH behavior in the low field range. The linear field dependence of PH in a resolution of 10 m Omega/Oe is sensitive high enough to be used as low-field magnetic sensors.