CHEMICALLY DEPOSITED CUCO GRANULAR FILMS - AN ALTERNATIVE ROUTE TO GMR

The magnetic behaviour of a Cu0.75Co0.25 thin film produced by chemica l deposition has been investigated over the temperature range 5 to 300 K and in magnetic fields of up to 5 T. The film exhibits either hyste retic or reversible behaviour depending upon the temperature. This is interpreted as being due to the presence of small particles of fcc Co in the non-magnetic matrix, which exhibit superparamagnetism at higher temperatures with a maximum blocking temperature of 20 K. After annea l at 400 degrees C, the sample is ferromagnetic at room temperature. T he variation of the GMR on anneal is also investigated.