Magnetoresistance and Domain Structure in Thin Nickel Films
- 15 May 1962
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Physical Society (APS) in Physical Review B
- Vol. 126 (4) , 1378-1385
- https://doi.org/10.1103/physrev.126.1378
Abstract
Magnetoresistance measurements have been used to determine the magnetic domain structure of nickel films. The magnetoresistance results are discussed in terms of a new representation in which the resistivity components parallel and transverse to the current, measured simultaneously as the applied magnetic field varies in magnitude or direction, are regarded as Cartesian coordinates. This representation is independent of the direction of the current relative to any preferred orientations in the film. Marked differences are found between the measured magnetoresistance and the behavior expected of a single-domain film. The nature of the differences indicates that these films must at least contain an angular distribution of uniaxial magnetic regions in the film plane. A particular model having these properties is developed. Here local anisotropy axes are uniformly distributed in direction and are superimposed on a common uniaxial anisotropy. The local and common anisotropy energies are assumed of different strength; their ratio is regarded as a parameter. The magnetic behavior of the model is easily studied for a complete range of values, because the model can be transformed into an equivalent distribution of singly uniaxial domains with a nonuniform distribution of axial directions about the common axis of the film and a corresponding range of equivalent anisotropy strengths. The magnetoresistance for this model is computed numerically and found to be in over-all agreement with the measurements. It is shown that a distribution of values can account for the remaining quantitative differences between experiment and the model.
Keywords
This publication has 12 references indexed in Scilit:
- Hall Effect Determination of Planar Stress in Ferromagnetic FilmsJournal of Applied Physics, 1962
- Magnetoresistance and Magnetic Switching in Permalloy FilmsJournal of Applied Physics, 1961
- Flux Reversal by Noncoherent Rotation in Magnetic FilmsJournal of Applied Physics, 1960
- Angular Variation of the Coercivity of Partially Aligned Elongated Ferromagnetic ParticlesJournal of Applied Physics, 1959
- Ermittlung der Orientierungsverteilung der Magnetisierungsvektoren in Nickel- und Eisen-Aufdampfschichten aus der magnetischen WiderstandsänderungThe European Physical Journal A, 1958
- Static and Dynamic Behavior of Thin Permalloy FilmsJournal of Applied Physics, 1958
- The remanent magnetization of single domain ferromagnetic particlesPhilosophical Magazine, 1957
- Hall Effect and Ferromagnetism of Very Thin Nickel FilmsJournal of Applied Physics, 1957
- Thin Films of Ferromagnetic MaterialsReviews of Modern Physics, 1953
- Magnetoresistance and Domain Theory of Iron-Nickel AlloysPhysical Review B, 1946