Large Magnetoresistance Effects in LnCoAsO with a Ferromagnetic-Antiferromagnetic Transition

A large magnetoresistance (MR) effect was observed in the layered compounds NdCoAsO and SmCoAsO, in which ferromagnetically ordered itinerant-electrons of Co are sandwiched by localized 4$f$-electrons of $Ln^{3+}$, below ferromagnetic-antiferromagnetic transition (FAFT) temperature $T_\mathrm{N}$ as observed in other FAFT compounds. In SmCoAsO, the large MR effect is also observed up to the Curie temperature $T_\mathrm{C}$, and it is found to be originating in the presence of another antiferromagnetic phase in the low-magnetic field region of the ferromagnetic phase.