Including fringe fields from a nearby ferromagnet in a percolation theory of organic magnetoresistance

Abstract

Random hyperfine fields are essential to mechanisms of low-field magnetoresistance in organic semiconductors. Recent experiments have shown that another type of random field fringe fields due to a nearby ferromagnet can also dramatically affect the magnetoresistance. A theoretical analysis of the effect of these fringe fields is challenging, as the fringe field magnitudes and their correlation lengths are orders of magnitude larger than that of the hyperfine couplings. We extend a recent theory of organic magnetoresistance to calculate the magnetoresistance with both hyperfine and fringe fields present. This theory describes several key features of the experimental fringe-field magnetoresistance, including the applied fields where the magnetoresistance reaches extrema, the applied field range of large magnetoresistance effects from the fringe fields, and the sign of the effect.