Spin colossal magnetoresistance in an antiferromagnetic insulator

Colossal magnetoresistance (CMR) refers to a large change in electrical conductivity induced by a magnetic field in the vicinity of a metal-insulator transition and has inspired extensive studies for decades^1,2. Here we demonstrate an analogous spin effect near the Néel temperature, T_N = 296 K, of the antiferromagnetic insulator Cr₂O₃. Using a yttrium iron garnet YIG/Cr₂O₃/Pt trilayer, we injected a spin current from the YIG into the Cr₂O₃ layer and collected, via the inverse spin Hall effect, the spin signal transmitted into the heavy metal Pt. We observed a two orders of magnitude difference in the transmitted spin current within 14 K of the Néel temperature. This transition between spin conducting and non-conducting states was also modulated by a magnetic field in isothermal conditions. This effect, which we term spin colossal magnetoresistance (SCMR), has the potential to simplify the design of fundamental spintronics components, for instance, by enabling the realization of spin-current switches or spin-current-based memories.