Relaxation in NiFe/Ag giant magnetoresistive devices

Abstract

Giant magnetoresistance was measured as a function of time and device size for patterned NiFe/Ag multilayer films. The sputtered NiFe/Ag multilayers were postannealed at 340 °C for 5 min in order to produce a change in resistivity Δρ/ρ of 5% in a saturating field of 4 kA/m (50 Oe). The microstructure of these films is believed to be discontinuous due to Ag bridging through the NiFe grain boundaries after the anneal. The films were fabricated into rectangular stripes with Au current lead, and then exposed to a magnetic field pulse to measure the time response of the resistance, characterized by a time constant τ, from the relation ΔR(t)=ΔR0e−t/τ. An apparatus was developed to produce a magnetic field pulse up to 8 kA/m (100 Oe) with a turn-on/off time constant of 10 μs. The response of the NiFe/Ag devices saturated quickly with the turn-on step with a time constant nearly equal to that of the field pulse. The response to the turn-off step, however, had a time constant of nearly 300 μs. When the field is first applied, the torque on the magnetic moments quickly aligns the magnetization. When the field is shut off, however, the torque due to the field drops to 0, so interacting magnetostatic fields from the grains and thermal energy dominate the relaxation process. The average time constant depends on the device size and the applied current density. Relaxation may be detrimental for using this type of material for read heads where very high data rates are required.