INFLUENCE OF STEPS ON QUANTUM-WELL STATES IN CU CO(100) MULTILAYERS/

Interface roughness is known to have a large effect on oscillatory mag netic coupling and giant magnetoresistance in magnetic multilayers, bu t the origin of this effect is still uncertain. In order to obtain a q uantitative measure we have used vicinal Cu/Co(100) interfaces with we ll-defined step spacing and have determined the amplitude of quantum o scillations in the density of states that are correlated with oscillat ory magnetic coupling. For a step spacing of 10 angstrom the oscillati on amplitude decreases by a factor of 1.8. This distance correspond to the lateral extent of the quantized states in the film.