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Physical Review B (Condensed Matter and Materials Physics) -- August 1, 2000 -- Volume 62, Issue 5, pp. 3361-3367

Enhancement of perpendicular and parallel giant magnetoresistance with the number of bilayers in Fe/Cr superlattices

M. C. Cyrille,¹ S. Kim,¹ M. E. Gomez,¹ J. Santamaria,¹ Kannan M. Krishnan,² and Ivan K. Schuller¹

¹Department of Physics, University of California-San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093-0319
²Materials Sciences Division, National Center for Electron Microscopy, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720

(Received 28 December 1999)

We have correlated a detailed quantitative structural analysis by x-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and high spatial resolution electron energy-loss spectroscopy imaging, with the magnetization and anisotropic magnetotransport properties in sputtered Fe/Cr superlattices. To accomplish this, we developed a technique for magnetotransport measurements in metallic superlattices with the current perpendicular to the plane of the layers (CPP). Using microfabrication techniques, we have fabricated microstructured Fe/Cr pillars embedded in SiO₂ and interconnected with Nb electrodes. Because of the uniform current distribution in the Nb electrodes and the minimization of the superlattice-electrode contact resistance, the method allows a simple and independent measurement of the superlattice resistance and giant magnetoresistance (GMR). Structural and magnetic characterization of [Fe (3 nm)/Cr (1.2 nm)]_N superlattices (where N is the number of repetitions) indicate that the roughness is correlated and increases cumulatively through the superlattice stack with no significant change in the antiferromagnetic coupling. Both the current in-plane and CPP GMR increase with N as the roughness increases. ©2000 The American Physical Society

URL: http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRB/v62/p3361
doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.62.3361
PACS: 75.70.Cn, 75.70.Pa        Additional Information

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Citing Articles

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