Electron localization and interaction effects in palladium and palladium-gold films

Abstract

We have measured the temperature and magnetic field dependence of the resistance for thin Pd and Pd-Au films ranging from 30 to 5000 Ω/□, as well as the temperature dependence of the Hall coefficient for Pd films of about 3000 Ω/□. The magnetoresistance of the Pd-Au films is well described by an electron localization model with strong spin-orbit scattering, while the effect of electron-electron interactions is small. The Pd film magnetoresistance is explained by the same model but with much stronger magnetic impurity spin scattering than the Pd-Au samples. Finally, the Hall coefficient of the Pd films is found to be independent of temperature, which indicates that single-particle effects are dominant over many-body electron interaction effects in these films, even though both appear to contribute to the zero-field resistance.