GIANT MAGNETORESISTANCE AND LOW SATURATION FIELDS IN NI-FE-CO CU MULTILAYERS WITH NIO BUFFER LAYERS/

Giant magnetoresistance and film structures have been investigated in Ni-Fe-Co/Cu multilayers with/without NiO buffer layers. The NiO buffer layers increased X-ray diffraction intensities of (111) peaks of Ni-F e-Co layers and Cu layers, and decreased the roughness of the interfac es between the Ni-Fe-Co layers and the Cu layers. The highest magnetor esistance ratio of 10% was obtained in a [Ni-Fe-Co(1.5 nm)/Cu(2.3 nm)] x 10/NiO(5 nm)/Si-substrate. The multilayer also showed a low saturat ion magnetic field of 1.5 kA/m.