The role of magnetic excitations in magnetoresistance and Hall effect of slightly TM-substituted BaFe2As2 compounds (TM = Mn, Cu, Ni)

We report on electrical resistivity, magnetoresistance (MR) and Hall effect measurements in four non-superconducting BaFe2−xTMxAs2 (TM = Mn, Cu and Ni) single crystals with small values of the chemical substitution x. The spin density wave (SDW) ordering that occurs in these systems at temperatures T ∼ (120-140) K, in close vicinity to a tetragonal/orthorhombic transition, produces significant modifications in their magneto-transport properties. While in the magnetically ordered phase the MR is positive and its magnitude increases with decreasing temperatures, in the paramagnetic regime the MR becomes vanishingly small. Above the spin density wave transition temperature (TSDW) the Hall coefficient RH is negative, small and weakly temperature dependent, but a remarkable change of slope occurs in the RH versus T curves at T=TSDW. The Hall coefficient amplitude, while remaining negative, increases steadily and significantly as the temperature is decreased below TSDW and down to T= 20 K. The qualitative behavior of both MR and Hall coefficient is weakly dependent on the chemical substitution in the studied limit. The experiments provide strong evidence that scattering of charge carriers by magnetic excitations has to be taken into account to explain the behavior of the resistivity, magnetoresistance and Hall effect in the ordered phase of the studied compounds. Effects of multiple band conduction also must be considered for a complete interpretation of the results.