Magnetic structure of the spin valve interface

Nonferromagnetic atoms present at Ni/Cu and Permalloy/Cu interfaces in sputtered spin valve magnetoresistive layered structures have been shown to cause reduced magnetoresistance. Here we show that a model in which the moments on the Ni atoms in the interfacial region of Ni/Cu are reduced substantia...

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Published inJournal of applied physics Vol. 76; no. 10; pp. 6805 - 6807
Main Authors Nicholson, D. M. C., Butler, W. H., Zhang, X.-G., MacLaren, J. M., Gurney, B. A., Speriosu, V. S.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 15.11.1994
Subjects
360104 > Metals & Alloys > Physical Properties
ALLOYS
CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
COPPER
DIFFUSION
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE
ELEMENTS
INTERFACES
IRON ALLOYS
LAYERS
MAGNETIC PROPERTIES
MAGNETORESISTANCE
MATERIALS SCIENCE
METALS
NICKEL
NICKEL ALLOYS
PERMALLOY
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
TRANSITION ELEMENTS 665000 > Physics of Condensed Matter > (1992-)
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Summary:Nonferromagnetic atoms present at Ni/Cu and Permalloy/Cu interfaces in sputtered spin valve magnetoresistive layered structures have been shown to cause reduced magnetoresistance. Here we show that a model in which the moments on the Ni atoms in the interfacial region of Ni/Cu are reduced substantially by interdiffusion with Cu is consistent with the experimental results. In contrast, we believe that moments persist at the permalloy/Cu interface, which first principle total energy calculations suggest will be disordered at finite temperatures. These reduced or disordered moments are expected to significantly reduce the GMR.
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ISSN:0021-8979
1089-7550
DOI:10.1063/1.358135