Ballistic electron magnetic microscopy studies of magnetization reversal in Co/Cu/Co trilayer films

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Abstract
We have used ballistic electron magnetic microscopy to image, with nanometer resolution, the magnetization behavior of Co/Cu/Co trilayer films in the presence of a magnetic field. Films prepared both by thermal evaporation and by magnetron sputtering have been studied. In each case we have observed both large, ∼500 nm, domain structures, and much smaller, apparently randomly dispersed, regions of magnetic misalignment between the Co layers that persist to fields >100 Oe. We find the details of the ballistic electron transport through the films to be different on small length scales, ∼50 nm, for the two types of growth methods.