MICROSTRUCTURAL EVOLUTION OF NIFE AG MULTILAYERS STUDIED BY X-RAY-DIFFRACTION AND IN-SITU HIGH-RESOLUTION TEM/

X-ray diffraction and in situ high-resolution electron microscopy expe riments have been performed to study the effect of annealing on the mi crostructure of permalloy/silver multilayers. Both techniques show tha t the silver diffuses into the permalloy grain boundaries creating so- called 'silver bridges'. This bridging is expected to be responsible f or the giant magnetoresistance effect observed at low fields in these devices. Moreover, unexpected permalloy diffusion and recrystallizatio n have also been observed in the in situ TEM experiments.