MAGNETORESISTANCE AND MAGNETIC-PROPERTIES OF CO IR MULTILAYERS ON MGO(110) SUBSTRATES/

A Co(12 Angstrom)/Ir(16 Angstrom) multilayer deposited on MgO(110) is found to have a strong uniaxial anisotropy, comparable to bulk hcp-Co. Experimental results suggests the crystallographic relation of (100)[ 001]Co/(110)[001]Ir/(110)[001]MgO. A remarkable difference is seen bet ween easy and hard axis magnetization processes, due to competition be tween the in-plane anisotropy and the exchange coupling. Considering t he characteristics of the MH loops and magnetoresistance curves, we si mulate the magnetization and magnetoresistance processes numerically. The results of our simulation indicate the existence of biquadratic co upling in Co/Ir(110). (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.