Abstract
Giant magnetoresistance (GMR) effects up to 7% have been observed in Fe/Cu/Co spin valve structures. The samples have been grown by ion beam sputtering at room temperature on a glass substrate covered by Cr buffer layer. The best results have been obtained for the sandwich in which a 0.5 nm Co thin layer has been deposited between Fe and Cu layer with the following structure: Cr 3nm/Fe 3nm/Co 0.5nm/Cu 3nm/Co 5nm/Cu 2nm/Cr 2nm. The role of the thin Co layer is to increase the spin-dependent scattering centers. Annealing treatments during 2 h have been performed on this sample at different temperature in order to study the thermal stability. A progressive increase of the GMR has been observed for the annealing at 200 and 250°C, while at 300°C, the GMR completely disappears. Rutherford back scattering (RBS) spectroscopy has been used to explain the physical origin of this drop, which is attributed to the total interdiffusion through grains boundaries between Fe, Co and Cu layers.
Published Version
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