Magnetic tunnel junctions （MTJs）, as the seminal spintronic devices, are expected for applications in magne- toresistive sensors due to their large magnetoresistance （MR） and high field sensitivity. Two hybrid Co/insulator/ZnO：Co junctions were fabricated with two different barriers to investigate the magneto-transport properties. Experimental results indicate that, both Co/MgO/ZnO：Co and Co/ZnO/ZnO：Co junctions show the positive and nearly linear MR, and their tunnel magnetoresistances （TMR） are 21.8% and 13.6%, respectively, when the current is applied perpendicular to the film plane under the magnetic field of 2 T at 4 K. The nonlinearity of MR is less than 1% within the magnetic field （H） of 1 kOe 〈 H 〈 12 kOe at low temperature, making them attractive as magnetoresistive sensors. The higher MR of Co/MgO/ZnO：Co junctions is due to the superior spin filtering effect and larger effective barrier height of the MgO barrier. This linear MR characteristic of Co/insulator/ZnO：Co structures shows a promising future on the applications of diluted magnetic semiconductors in magnetoresistive sensors.
