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Giant Magnetoresistance in Annealed Fe/Cr Multilayers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 September 2012

Noa More Rensing
Affiliation:
Department of Applied Physics, Stanford University, Stanford CA 94305
Bruce M. Clemens
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford CA 94305
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Abstract

The giant magnetoresistance effect in antiferromagnetically coupled Fe/Cr Multilayers has been attributed to spin dependent scattering at the interfaces between the constituents. One possible source of this spin dependent scattering is chromium impurities in the iron layers due to intermixing at the interfaces. Annealing the films can promote the diffusion of the components, increasing the impurity concentration and therefore the Magnetoresistance. For this study Fe/Cr Multilayers were annealed at several temperatures and for several durations. Annealing at moderate temperatures (∼ 350°C) increases the Magnetoresistance, while higher temperature anneals (∼ 600°C) cause the magnetoresistance to disappear completely. Long anneals at 330°C (> 100 hours) also reduce the Magnetoresistance. VSM Measurements indicate that the antiferromagnetic coupling is reduced in the annealed samples but show no evidence of Magnetically “dead” alloy layers. Low angle X-ray diffraction indicates that the structural effect of annealing is very subtle in comparison to the significant magnetic effect.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1993

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References

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