Magnetotransport Properties of Antiferromagnetic YBa₂Cu₃O₆.25 Single Crystals

In-plane and out-of-plane magnetoresistivities (MR) of antiferromagnetic YBa_2Cu_3O_6.25 single crystals were measured in magnetic fields H applied along the (ab) plane. In-plane MR is a superposition of two components: The first component is strongly in-plane anisotropic, changing sign from negative when H is parallel to the electrical current I to positive when H is perpendicular to I. The second component is positive, quadratic in H, and isotropic in the (ab)-plane. The out-of-plane MR displays a fourfold symmetry upon in-plane rotation of the magnetic field, with maxima along the easy axes of antiferromagnetic spin ordering and minima along unfavorable directions of spin orientation (45 degrees from the Cu-O-Cu bonds).