Volume: Page/Article: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Your access to PROLA is provided through the subscription of Central Research Institute ------------------------------------------------------------------------ MyArticles: View Collection Help (Click on the Check Box to add an article.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Phys. Rev. Lett. 82, 2796?2799 (1999) [Issue 13 ? 29 March 1999 ] [ Previous article | Next article | Issue 13 contents ] Add to article collection View PDF (1710 kB) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Observation of Antiparallel Magnetic Order in Weakly Coupled Co/Cu Multilayers J. A. Borchers, J. A. Dura, J. Unguris, D. Tulchinsky, M. H. Kelley, and C. F. Majkrzak National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899 S. Y. Hsu, R. Loloee, W. P. Pratt, Jr., and J. Bass Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824 Received 16 December 1998 Polarized neutron reflectivity and scanning electron microscopy with polarization analysis are combined to determine the magnetic structure of Co(6 nm)/Cu(6 nm) multilayers. These data resolve a controversy regarding the low-field state of giant-magnetoresistive (GMR) multilayers with weak coupling. As-prepared samples show a strong antiparallel correlation of in-plane ferromagnetic Co domains across the Cu. At the coercive field, the Co domains are uncorrelated. This irreversible transition explains the decrease in magnetoresistance from the as-prepared to the coercive state. For both states, the Co moments reside in domains with in-plane sizes of ~ 0.5?1.5 µm. ©1999 The American Physical Society URL: http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v82/p2796 DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.82.2796 PACS: 75.70.Cn, 61.12.Ha, 75.60.Ch, 75.70.Pa ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Add to article collection View PDF (1710 kB) [ Previous article | Next article | Issue 13 contents ] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ References (Reference links marked with dot may require a separate subscription.) 1. M. N. Baibich, J. M. Broto, A. Fert, F. Nguyen Van Dau, F. Petroff, P. Etienne, G. Creuzet, A. Friederich, and J. Chazelas, Phys. Rev. Lett. 61, 2472 (1988) . 2. P. M. Levy, in Solid State Physics, edited by H. Ehrenreich and D. Turnbull (Academic, New York, 1994), Vol. 47, p. 367. 3. S. S. P. Parkin, N. More, and K. P. Roche, Phys. Rev. Lett. 64, 2304 (1990) ; S. S. P. Parkin, R. Bhadra, and K. P. Roche, Phys. 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