Abstract
Point contacts between normal and ferromagnetic metals are investigated usingmagnetoresistance and transport spectroscopy measurements combined with micromagneticsimulations. Pronounced hysteresis in the point contact resistance versus both biascurrent and external magnetic field are observed. It is found that such hystereticresistance can exhibit, in addition to bi-stable resistance states found in ordinary spinvalves, tri-stable resistance states with a middle resistance level. We interpret theseobservations in terms of surface spin valve and spin vortex states, originating from asubstantially modified spin structure at the ferromagnetic interface in the contactcore. We argue that these surface spin states, subject to a weakened exchangeinteraction, dominate the effects of spin transfer torques on the nanometer scale.
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