GMR, Structural, and Magnetic Studies in NiFeCo/Ag Multilayer thin Films

Abstract

ABSTRACTGiant Magnetoresistance (GMR), crystal structure, and magnetic properties have been investigated in a series of sputtered Ni66Fe16Co18/Ag multilayer films with induced uniaxial anisotropy. The film thickness ranges studied were 20 and 25 Å for NiFeCo, and 25 to 50 Å for Ag. GMR was only evident in the films after post-deposition annealing. This onset of GMR is thought to be due to the breaking up of the NiFeCo layers into ferromagnetic platelets or islands by the immiscible Ag diffusing perpendicular to the film plane along the grain boundaries. The magnitude and field sensitivity of the GMR was dependent on the annealing time and temperature. High angle x-ray diffraction (HXRD) was used to reveal the overall film structure and growth texture and low angle XRD (LXRD) was used to investigate the quality of the multilayer structures. M-H hysteresis loops revealed in-plane uniaxial anisotropy in as-deposited films which is eventually eliminated with annealing. The easy axis squareness experiences a pronounced decrease with lower temperature annealing, but then increases slightly with annealing temperature.