COMPARISON OF HYSTERESIS LOOPS FROM GIANT MAGNETORESISTANCE AND MAGNETOMETRY FOR PERPENDICULAR-CURRENT EXCHANGE-BIASED SPIN VALVES

We compare for permalloy (Py)/Cu/Py or Py/Ag/Py exchange-biased spin v alves, hysteresis loops of: (1) giant magnetoresistance (GMR) with cur rent perpendicular to the layer planes (CPP-MR), and (2) magnetization M measured for the same portion of the sample used to measure the CPP -MR. As expected, the two kinds of loops are mostly very similar. Ther e are, however, some slight differences, the source of which is not ye t clear. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.