giant magnetoresistance (GMR) meqnât-istâdegi-ye kalân, istâdegi-ye meqnâtisi-ye ~ Fr.: magnétorésistance géante A quantum mechanical phenomenon where the resistance of certain materials drops dramatically upon application of a magnetic field in certain structures composed of alternating layers of magnetic and nonmagnetic metals. The basis of the GMR is the dependence of the electrical resistivity of electrons in a magnetic metal on the direction of the electron spin, either parallel or anti-parallel to the magnetic moment of the layers. The 2007 Nobel Prize in physics was awarded to the French physicist Albert Fert (1938-) and German physicist Peter Grünberg (1939-) for the discovery of GMR. → giant; magneto- combining form of → magnet; → resistance. |