Artifacts That Mimic Ballistic Magnetoresistance

Published

February 1, 2005

Author(s)

William F. Egelhoff Jr., L Gan, H Ettedgui, Y Kadmon, Cedric J. Powell, P J. Chen, Alexander J. Shapiro, Robert McMichael, J Mallett, Thomas P. Moffat, Mark D. Stiles, Erik B. Svedberg

Abstract

We have investigated the circumstances underlying recent reports of very large values of ballistic magntoresistance (BMR) in nanocontacts between magnetic wires. We find that the geometries used are subject to artifacts due to motion of the wires that distort the nanocontact thereby changing its electrical resistance. Since these nanocontacts are often of atomic scale, reliable experiments would require stability on the atomic scale. No method for achieving such stability in macroscopic wires is apparent. We conclude that macroscopic magnetic wires cannot be used to establish the validity of the BMR effect.

Citation

Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials

Volume

287

Pub Type

Journals

Keywords

artifacts, magnetoresistance, nanocontacts

Citation

Egelhoff Jr., W. , Gan, L. , Ettedgui, H. , Kadmon, Y. , Powell, C. , Chen, P. , Shapiro, A. , McMichael, R. , Mallett, J. , Moffat, T. , Stiles, M. and Svedberg, E. (2005), Artifacts That Mimic Ballistic Magnetoresistance, Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials (Accessed October 26, 2025)