Title :
Ion beam sputtering of magnetoresistive multilayers: Co/Cu and Co-modified Ni81Fe19/Cu systems
Author :
Schmeusser, S. ; Hubert, Alex ; Rupp, Gunter
Author_Institution :
Inst. fur Werkstoffwissenschaften, Erlangen-Nurnberg Univ., Germany
fDate :
9/1/1996 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
The ion beam sputtering method was applied to the preparation of Co/Cu and related multilayers. Improvements were obtained by changing the sputtering gas from Ar to Xe and by increasing the growth rate. By these means we achieved a magnetoresistance effect of 51% at room temperature in Co/Cu multilayers of only 16 periods. With these optimized working conditions Ni81Fe19/Cu multilayers with cobalt interfaces of various thicknesses were prepared. A linear correlation between the magnetoresistance ratio and the antiferromagnetically coupled volume fraction is found indicating a predominant interface contribution to the magnetoresistance effect. On the other hand, cobalt was found to degrade the coupling quality and to enhance the coercivity
Keywords :
cobalt; coercive force; copper; ferromagnetic materials; giant magnetoresistance; iron alloys; magnetic multilayers; nickel alloys; sputter deposition; 20 C; Ar; Co-Cu; Co-modified Ni81Fe19/Cu systems; Co/Cu; Cu-Co-Ni81Fe19; Ni81Fe19/Cu multilayers; Xe; antiferromagnetically coupled volume fraction; coercivity; coupling quality; growth rate; interface contribution; ion beam sputtering; ion beam sputtering method; linear correlation; magnetoresistance effect; magnetoresistance ratio; magnetoresistive multilayers; multilayers; preparation; room temperature; sputtering gas; Antiferromagnetic materials; Argon; Cobalt; Employee welfare; Ion beams; Iron; Magnetic multilayers; Magnetoresistance; Sputtering; Temperature;
Journal_Title :
Magnetics, IEEE Transactions on
