Single-crystal bismuth thin films, fabricated by electrodeposition and suitable annealing, exhibit very large magnetoresistance of 400 000% at 5 K and 300% at 300 K, as well as pronounced Shubnikov–de Haas oscillations. A hybrid structure demonstrates the potential for field sensing with sensitivities of 35%/Oe at 5 K and 0.2%/Oe at 300 K.

We have studied the magnetoresistance of electrodeposited Bi wires with diameters between 200 nm and 2 μm in magnetic fields up to B=55 T. In zero field, the resistance increases with decreasing temperature, indicating that the mean free path is strongly influenced by the nanowire geometry. The high-field magnetoresistance shows strong dependence on field orientation; typically 200% for B parallel to the wires, and 600%–800% for B perpendicular to the wires. The perpendicular magnetoresistance is well described by a modified two-current model which suggests that the high-field response of the arrays is fairly insensitive to the wire diameter, and is dominated by bulk properties of Bi.

Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations have been observed in Bi thin films fabricated by electrodeposition. The observed dominant oscillation periods of 0.17, 0.08, and (Formula presented) with the magnetic field along the trigonal, binary, and bisectrix axes of Bi, respectively, are in good agreement with those in bulk Bi single crystals. © 2000 The American Physical Society.