Magnetoresistance of symmetric spin valve structures

Author

Anthony, Thomas C. ; Brug, James A. ; Zhang, Shufeng

Author_Institution

Hewlett-Packard Labs., Palo Alto, CA, USA

Volume

30

Issue

6

fYear

1994

fDate

11/1/1994 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

3819

Lastpage

3821

Abstract

A spin valve configuration is presented in which an unpinned ferromagnetic film is separated from exchange-pinned ferromagnetic films on either side by two nonmagnetic spacers, thereby creating a symmetric spin valve structure. The symmetric spin valve is shown to increase the magnetoresistance by 50% over the values of individual spin valves. The increase is attributed to a reduction of spin-independent outer boundary scattering and doubling the number of spin-dependent scattering interfaces. The magnetoresistance and coupling fields of the spin valves that comprise the symmetric structure have been measured as a function of Cu spacer thickness. Oscillatory antiferromagnetic to ferromagnetic coupling was observed in standard spin valves, which had ΔR/R as high as 13%

Keywords

giant magnetoresistance; magnetic multilayers; antiferromagnetic to ferromagnetic coupling; exchange-pinned ferromagnetic films; giant magnetoresistance; magnetic multilayers; nonmagnetic spacers; spin-independent outer boundary scattering; symmetric spin valve structures; unpinned ferromagnetic film; Antiferromagnetic materials; Giant magnetoresistance; Laboratories; Magnetic field measurement; Magnetic multilayers; Milling machines; Physics; Scattering; Spin valves; Thickness measurement;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Magnetics, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9464

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/20.333913

Filename

333913