Magnetic and spin-orbit proximity effects on the transport properties of hybrid heterostructures

Proximity effects are commonly realized by bringing together two or more materials. The inherent lack of inversion symmetry at the interfaces yields the formation of interfacial spin-orbit fields (SOFs) which are crucial for novel phenomena, absent or fragile in the bulk. We theoretically investigate the interplay between SOFs and proximity-induced magnetism in hybrid SM/F heterostructures (SM and F stand for semiconductor and ferromagnet, respectively) as well as its effect on spectral and transport properties. In particular, we predict the emergence of novel magnetoresistive phenomena in planar SM/F multi-terminal devices, where the coexistence of magnetic and spin-orbit proximity effects leads to anisotropies in the longitudinal and transverse Hall-like responses with respect to both magnetization orientation and crystallographic axes. Potential device applications of the predicted phenomena are also discussed.