Antiferromagnetic exchange and enhanced magnetoresistance in glass/ Fe50 Å/Co11 Å/CutCu/Co11 Å/ Cu10 Å structures

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Abstract
Glass/ Fe50 Å/Co11 Å/Cut/Co11 Å/Cu10 Å structures were sputtered in a high‐vacuum system with a base pressure of 5×10−8 Torr. The magnetoresistance (MR) reaches 8% at room temperature for tCu=10 Å with a saturation field of 700 Oe. For tCu=22 Å the MR reaches 6.4% for a 200 Oe field. Our results are analyzed in a semiclassical approach by solving the Boltzmann equation for the five‐layer structure with λCo=76 Å and λCu=420 Å and using both interfacial and bulk spin‐dependent scattering. Interlayer coupling was checked by magneto‐optical measurements using the transverse Kerr‐effect geometry. For tCu=10 Å we observe zero‐remanence magnetization curves with saturation fields around 1 kOe. For tCu=22 Å no evidence for macroscopic antiferromagnetic coupling is observed since the hysteresis cycle is almost square.