Abstract
Colossal magnetoresistance (CMR) is typically observed in manganites and magnetic semiconductors, marked by a resistivity peak near the magnetic transition temperature that is significantly suppressed by an applied magnetic field, commonly referred to as peak-type CMR. This type of CMR has attracted extensive research efforts over the past decades. However, in some materials such as Mn3Si2Te6, both peak-type and upturn-type CMR coexist—the latter characterized by a sharp resistivity upturn at low temperatures that is also strongly suppressed by an external field. Research on the coexistence of these two types of CMR remains relatively unexplored. In our work, we propose a theoretical framework to unravel the mechanisms underlying the above mentioned CMR phenomenon in magnetic semiconductors, and apply it to the ferrimagnetic semiconductor Mn3Si2Te6. The experimentally observed ρ(B, T) behaviors are accurately reproduced, including the upturn-type CMR, peak-type CMR, and movement of Tc (or resistivity peak) with fields. Additionally, the suppression of Tc and resistivity with increasing direct currents, possibly associated with current control of the chiral orbital current (COC) state in the previous work, can also be reproduced within our framework by properly accounting for the Joule heating effects. Our work provides a new perspective for quantitatively calculating and analyzing the unusual resistivity responses to temperature, field, and current in magnetic semiconductors.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.12274436, 11925408, 11921004), the National Key R&D Program of China (Grant No. 2023YFA1607400, 2022YFA1403800), the Science Center of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 12188101), and H.W. acknowledges support from the New Cornerstone Science Foundation through the XPLORER PRIZE.
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Q.S.W. and Z.H.L. conceived and supervised the project. Z.H.L. performed the simulations and analysis. F.Z. and H.M.W. provided the theoretical support and advice. Z.H.L. wrote the manuscript. All authors contributed to the manuscript revisions.
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Liu, Z., Fang, Z., Weng, H. et al. Colossal magnetoresistance and unusual resistivity behaviors in magnetic semiconductors: Mn3Si2Te6 as a case study. npj Comput Mater (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41524-026-01963-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41524-026-01963-9
