Spin-induced anomalous magnetoresistance at the (100) surface of hydrogen-terminated diamond

We report magnetoresistance measurements of hydrogen-terminated (100)-oriented diamond surfaces wherein an ionic-liquid-gated field-effect-transistor technique was used to make hole carriers accumulate. Unexpectedly, the observed magnetoresistance is positive within the range of 2<T<10 K and -7<B<7 T, in striking contrast to the negative magnetoresistance previously detected for similar devices with (111)-oriented diamond surfaces. Furthermore, we find that (1) the magnetoresistance is orders of magnitude larger than that of the classical orbital magnetoresistance; (2) the magnetoresistance is nearly independent of the direction of the applied magnetic field; and (3) for the in-plane field, the magnetoresistance ratio, defined as [ρ(B)-ρ(0)]/ρ(0), follows a universal function of B/T. These results indicate that the spin degree of freedom of hole carriers plays an important role in the surface conductivity of hydrogen-terminated (100) diamond.