Anisotropic differential magnetoresistance of Cu/Co(100) multilayers

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Abstract
We report on structural and magnetic properties of diode rf‐sputtered fcc Cu/Co(100) multilayers. All the samples exhibit a pseudo‐epitaxial structure with interface roughness of the order of 6 Å. As the Cu layer thickness is varied, we observe oscillations of magnetoresistance corresponding to oscillations of the interlayer coupling. The maximum of magnetoresistance is found for t Cu=18.5 Å (up to ΔR/R≊6%). We furthermore measure a very high differential magnetoresistance (ΔR/RΔH=1.4 kOe−1). A combination of antiferromagnetic coupling and quadratic in‐plane anisotropy is responsible for this large value of magnetoresistivity.