Large positive magnetoresistance in thin films of silver telluride

Thin films of $Ag2Te$ were obtained by vapor transport and electron beam evaporation methods. The film phase and chemical compositions were analyzed by x-ray diffraction and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses, respectively. Film composition was close to stoichiometric with a slight excess of tellurium. Strong (1̄21) texture was found in the films obtained by the electron beam evaporation. Magnetoresistance (MR) measurements show different temperature dependencies for oriented and nonoriented films. MR of the oriented films has a strong peak up to 390% at 90 K and 5 T, whereas MR of the nonoriented films is almost temperature independent in the 10–100 K range. Some analogies can be found between these materials and colossal MR and nonmagnetic multilayer MR materials.