Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

The Trade-off Between Large GMR and Small Coercivity in Symmetric Spin Valves

Published

Author(s)

William F. Egelhoff Jr., P J. Chen, Cedric J. Powell, Mark D. Stiles, Robert McMichael, C Lin, J Sivertsen, J Judy, K Takano, A Berkowitz

Abstract

We have investigated the use of various alloys as substitutes for pure Co in the center film of symmetric spin valves of the type NiO/Co/Cu/Co/Cu/Co/NiO. The aim of this work is to identify magnetic materials that exhibit smaller coercivities than pure Co for the center or valve film but which retain much of the giant magnetoresistance associated with a pure Co film. The materials investigated include Co95Fe5, Co90Fe10, Ni80Fe20, Co86Fe10.5Ni3.5, and Co85B15. It appears that each of these alloys scatters electrons more strongly than does pure Co as they cross the center film. This scattering degrades the dual spin-valve effect, which is the primary advantage of the symmetric spin valve. As a result, a tradeoff exists between large GMR and small coercivity when using these materials.
Citation
Journal of Applied Physics
Volume
79
Issue
11

Citation

Egelhoff Jr., W. , Chen, P. , Powell, C. , Stiles, M. , McMichael, R. , Lin, C. , Sivertsen, J. , Judy, J. , Takano, K. and Berkowitz, A. (1996), The Trade-off Between Large GMR and Small Coercivity in Symmetric Spin Valves, Journal of Applied Physics (Accessed March 29, 2024)
Created December 31, 1995, Updated October 12, 2021