Temperature Dependence of the Magnetoresistance of Co/Re Superlattices

Abstract

ABSTRACTHcp (10.0) Co/Re superlattices were grown by dc magnetron sputtering on sapphire (11.0) substrates with the [00.1] direction of the superlattice in the film plane. The temperature-dependent magnetoresistance (MR) was measured on samples patterned by photolithography from 10 K to 300 K in a 5.5 T superconducting magnet. The pattern allows the measurement of the MR with the current (I) and the magnetic field (H) parallel or perpendicular to the magnetic easy axis (c, the [00.1] direction). Measurements at 5 K on an antiferromagnetically-coupled sample shows dips in the MR near H = 0 when H ∕∕ c and H ⊥ I, dips below the saturation value at H ∼ 2.5 kOe for H ∕∕ c and H ∕∕ I configuration due to the competition between the anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR) and the giant magnetoresistance (GMR). Since the AMR is dependent on the transport within the ferromagnetic layers, the temperature dependence yields information about the relative magnitudes of interface vs. bulk spin-dependent scattering. Our analysis shows that the GMR is anisotropic and that the spin-dependent scattering occurs predominantly at the interfaces only for certain configurations.