Evolution of the GMR-effect amplitude in copper/Permalloy-multilayered thin films[Giant Magnetoresistance]

Journal Article · Fri Nov 12 04:00:00 EST 1999 · Acta Materialia

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S1359-6454(99)00283-9· OSTI ID:20005398

Huetten, A; Mrozek, S; Heitmann, S; Hempel, T; Brueckl, H; Reiss, G

The evolution of the giant magnetoresistance (GMR) effect in thin film multilayers based on {l{underscore}brace}Cu/Ni{sub 81}Fe{sub 19}{r{underscore}brace}{sub N} has been investigated. The maximum effect amplitude at room temperature reaches about 20% and about 10% in first and second antiferromagnetic maximum, respectively. The magnetoresistance vs field dependence does not show a hysteresis. A simple magnetization reversal model has been applied to separate contributions of bilinear and biquadratic exchange energies to the magnetic coupling. It is shown, that this model can also be used to predict saturation fields for different systems. Multilayers with Cu layer thickness corresponding to the second maximum of the antiferromagnetic coupling survive heat spikes of up to 200 C retaining their sensitivity of {gt}0.16%/Oe. Investigations of multilayers comprised of blocks of first and second antiferromagnetic coupling maximum revealed the field dependence of the coupling between these blocks and it is shown that the GMR effect is simply additive.

• Research Organization: Univ. Bielefeld (DE)
• OSTI ID: 20005398
• Journal Information: Acta Materialia, Journal Name: Acta Materialia Journal Issue: 15-16 Vol. 47; ISSN 1359-6454; ISSN ACMAFD
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
ANTIFERROMAGNETISM
COMPOSITE MATERIALS
COPPER
IRON ALLOYS
LAYERS
MAGNETORESISTANCE
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
NICKEL ALLOYS
THIN FILMS