Temperature dependence of the magnetoresistance of sputtered Fe/Cr superlattices

Journal Article · Fri Nov 01 00:00:00 EST 1991 · Physical Review, B: Condensed Matter; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.44.9378· OSTI ID:6002009

Mattson, J E; Brubaker, M E; Sowers, C H; Conover, M; Qiu, Z; Bader, S D ^[1]

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1. Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Ilinios (USA)

The temperature dependence of the resistivity of three sputtered Fe/Cr superlattices was analyzed. Two are antiferromagnetic and one is ferromagnetic. Also, a series of Fe/Cr superlattices was characterized as a function of Cr thickness by means of resistivity, Kerr-rotation, and x-ray-diffraction measurements. Magnetoresistance measurements for films with 32-A Fe layers confirm the presence of three oscillations with peaks at {similar to}11, 27, and 42 A Cr. The Kerr-rotation measurements for fixed Fe thicknesses of 15, 25, 32 and 40 A indicate that the first antiferromagnetic region is always between {similar to}6 and 17 A Cr thickness. The low-angle x-ray results show that the structure is not ideal, based on comparison to dynamical simulation or to the quality of similarly prepared Fe/Mo superlattices. The magnetoresistivity of the antiferromagnetic films decays from its maximum value at low temperature with a {ital T}{sup 2} behavior below {similar to}100 K, while a ferromagnetic film could be similarly approximated by a {ital T}{sup 3/2} behavior. These power laws are a consequence of the thermal excitation of magnons in these anisotropic antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic superlattices, respectively. The resistivities due to {ital sd}-interband scattering {rho}{sub {ital s}{ital d}} are approximated by a {ital T}{sup 2} behavior and roughly a {ital T}{sup 3} behavior, respectively. This indicates that for the antiferromagnetic films the dominant contributions to {rho}{sub {ital s}{ital d}} come from processes mediated by magnons as well as phonons.

• DOE Contract Number: W-31-109-ENG-38
• OSTI ID: 6002009
• Journal Information: Physical Review, B: Condensed Matter; (United States), Vol. 44:17; ISSN 0163-1829
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
CHROMIUM
MAGNETORESISTANCE
IRON
SUPERLATTICES
ANTIFERROMAGNETIC MATERIALS
FERROMAGNETIC MATERIALS
KERR EFFECT
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
DIELECTRIC PROPERTIES
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
ELEMENTS
MAGNETIC MATERIALS
MATERIALS
METALS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
TRANSITION ELEMENTS
360104* - Metals & Alloys- Physical Properties