Giant Magnetoresistance, Microstructure, and Application Characteristics of Amorphous CoNbZr-Based Pseudo-Spin Valves

Abstract

We have fabricated pseudo-spin-valve (PSV) multilayers with amorphous CoNbZr alloy as a soft magnetic layer and a buffer layer by magnetron sputtering. We investigated the multilayers' giant magnetoresistance (GMR), microstructure,thermal annealing effects, and application characteristics. Our results show that the film microstructure, consequently the magnetostatic coupling effect and the magnetization reversal process, strongly depends on the CoNbZr thickness. We observed antiparallel magnetization alignments in the samples with a 2-4nm CoNbZr layer and a measured maximum GMR ratio of 6.5%. The PSV with 4 nm CoNbZr has a superior thermal stability to 400 degC as a result of the dense and homogeneous Cu spacer. After patterning with a 6 mumtimes1 mum elliptic stripe, the structure forms a single domain. The dynamic GMR behavior under a 10 kHz sinusoidal magnetic field indicates the patterned stripe has a linear and stable GMR response. We therefore believe that PSVs with amorphous CoNbZr have good potential for spintronic devices