Room-temperature magnetoresistance of nanocrystalline Ni metal with various grain sizes

The room-temperature magnetoresistance (MR) characteristics of nanocrystalline (nc) Ni metal with various grain sizes (between 30 and 100 nm) are investigated in this work for the first time. The nc-Ni foils were produced by electrodeposition and the results are compared with data measured on coarse-grained (bulk) pure Ni metal samples prepared by cold-rolling and annealing. The MR(H) curves measured in magnetic fields up to H = 9 kOe are analyzed in detail to determine the anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR) ratio. The magnitude of the AMR ratio was found to be around 2.5% for bulk Ni and in the range from about 2 to 2.5% for the nc-Ni samples, the latter data not exhibiting a systematic dependence on the grain size. On the other hand, the field-induced resistivity anisotropy splitting ∆ρAMR in the magnetically saturated state of the nc-Ni series was found to be proportional to the zero-field resistivity of the same samples with different grain sizes. The slope of this proportionality relation provided an AMR ratio of 2.4% for all nc-Ni samples, matching well the value for the bulk Ni samples. Thus, the AMR ratio for polycrystalline Ni metal seems to be fairly independent of the microstructural features. This also means that the AMR ratio is an inherent characteristic of the Ni metal matrix and it remains the same even if the matrix resistivity changes (e.g., by introducing grain boundaries) without noticeably modifying the electronic density of states at least in the vicinity of the Fermi level.

A STUDY IN INDUCED POLARIZATION

Induced polarization in pyritic sandstone arises in part from overvoltage effects and in part from electrolytic polarization. Because induced‐polarization measurements are commonly used to search for sulfides, the electrolytic polarization is an undesirable background effect. Pyrite in sandstone can be located only when overvoltage polarization substantially exceeds electrolytic polarization. Laboratory measurements indicate this is true only if there is ten percent or more pyrite in a rock. However, overvoltage polarization is much larger when low current densities are used, particularly if the matrix resistivity is high. Field measurements indicate that at low current densities as little as one or two percent pyrite may provide sufficient overvoltage polarization to be recognizable in the presence of electrolytic polarization.