An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics

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.

See also: → giant; magneto- combining form of → magnet; → resistance.