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Journal of Applied Physics -- April 15, 1997 -- Volume 81, Issue 8, pp. 5215-5217

Experimental study of magnetization reversal processes in nonsymmetric spin valve

V. S. Gornakov and V. I. Nikitenko

Institute of Solid State Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Chernogolovka, Moscow 142432, Russia

L. H. Bennett, H. J. Brown, M. J. Donahue, W. F. Egelhoff, R. D. McMichael, and A. J. Shapiro

National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899

We have investigated a nonsymmetric bottom giant magnetoresistance spin valve with the structure Si/NiO/Co/Cu/Co/Ta, as well as single ferromagnetic Co layers on antiferromagnetic NiO, with or without a nonmagnetic Cu spacer. Magnetic hysteresis loops have been measured by SQUID magnetometry, and magnetic domain structures have been imaged using an advanced magneto-optical indicator film (MOIF) technique. The MOIF technique demonstrated that the first stage of magnetization reversal is characterized by nucleation of many microdomains. With increasing reversed field, the domain walls move over small distances (5–20 µm) until annihilation. The domain size was observed to increase with the thickness of the Co layer. When an alternating magnetic field was applied, the domain structure was dramatically changed. ©1997 American Institute of Physics.

PII: S0021-8979(97)73908-2
doi:10.1063/1.364954
PACS: 75.70.Cn, 75.60.Ej, 72.15.Gd, 73.50.Jt, 75.70.Pa, 75.70.Kw, 78.20.Ls, 75.50.Ee, 75.50.Cc        Additional Information

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Citing Articles

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   M. D. Stiles et al., Phys. Rev. B 63, 064405 (2001)
4. Anisotropy-dependent macroscopic domain structure in wedged-permalloy/uniform-FeMn bilayers
   Kai Liu et al., J. Appl. Phys. 87, 5052 (2000)
5. Magnetic domain reversal in ultrathin Co(001) films probed by giant magnetoresistance measurements
   S. P. Li et al., Phys. Rev. B 61, 6871 (2000)
6. Direct experimental study of the magnetization reversal process in epitaxial and polycrystalline films with unidirectional anisotropy
   V. I. Nikitenko et al., J. Appl. Phys. 83, 6828 (1998)
7. Asymmetry of domain nucleation and enhanced coercivity in exchange-biased epitaxial NiO/NiFe bilayers
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