Magneto-transport properties of dilute granular ferromagnets

We present magnetoresistance (MR) measurements performed on quench condensed granular Ni thin films which are on the verge of electric continuity. In these systems the electric conductivity is believed to be governed by the resistance between a very small number of grains. The films exihibit sharp resistance jumps as a function of magnetic field. We interpret these findings as being the result of magneto-mechanical distortions that occour in single grains which act as bottlenecks in the dilute percolation network. The observed features provide a unique measure of magnetostriction effects in nano-grain structures as well as being able to shed light on some of the properties of regular granular magnetic films.