CORRELATION OF GMR WITH TEXTURE AND INTERFACIAL ROUGHNESS IN OPTIMIZED RF-SPUTTERING DEPOSITED CO CU MULTILAYERS/

The objectives of the present work were two fold: first to obtain the highest giant magnetoresistance (GMR) ratio in Co/Cu multilayers grown from the unusual process of rf diode sputtering and second, to invest igate in detail correlation between GMR and texture and the interfacia l roughness deduced from X-ray diffraction and AFM, respectively. Diff erent interface structures have been induced from the change of the sp uttering parameters (sputtering argon gas pressure P-k) which gave the optimal rf sputtering conditions for high GMR. From different results it is concluded that the most important parameter is interface roughn ess which induces a strong effect on both the GMR and the resistivity of the superlattice. A change in the t(Ca)(2) dependence of the recipr ocal resistance near t(Co) = 25 Angstrom is attributed to an increase of the effect of the layer roughness when the t(Co) is going from meso scopic (t(Co) > 25 Angstrom) to nanoscopic scale (t(Co) < 25 Angstrom) .