Evidence of the side jump mechanism in the anomalous Hall effect in paramagnets

Persistent confusion has existed between the intrinsic (Berry curvature) and the side jump mechanisms of anomalous Hall effect (AHE) in ferromagnets. We provide unambiguous identification of the side jump mechanism, in addition to the skew scattering contribution in epitaxial paramagnetic Ni$_{34}$Cu$_{66}$ thin films, in which the intrinsic contribution is by definition excluded. Furthermore, the temperature dependence of the AHE further reveals that the side jump mechanism is dominated by the elastic scattering.