Beschreibung:
<jats:p>We report low field (μ0H &lt; 0.2 T) magnetoresistance (MR) studies on a single Gd nanowire patterned from a nano-structured film (average grain size ∼ 35 nm) by focused ion beam. For comparison, we did similar MR measurements on a polycrystalline sample with large crystallographic grains (∼4 μm). It is observed that in the low field region where the MR is due to motion of magnetic domains, the MR in the large grained sample shows a close relation to the characteristic temperature dependent magnetocrystalline anisotropy including a sharp rise in MR at the spin reorientation transition at 235 K. In stark contrast, in the nanowire, the MR shows complete suppression of the above behaviours and it shows predominance of the grain boundary and spin disorder controlling the domain response.</jats:p>