Giant magnetoresistance in Co-Fe-Cu granularribbons

Abstract

The structure and magnetoresistance of as-quenched and annealedCo15-xFexCu85 (x = 0, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15)granular alloys have been investigated. Co-Fe-Cu nanoparticleswith sizes in the range of 2-3 nm, 10-20 nm and~100 nm are embedded in a Cu matrix in Co-Fe-Cugranular ribbons. The giant magnetoresistance of the granularalloys decreases with increasing Fe content. The Co-Fe-Cunanoparticles with large size result in a decrease of the numberof nanoparticles, the interfaces for spin-dependent scattering ofelectrons and thus the magnetoresistance.