DIGITAL MAGNETORESISTANCE CHARACTERISTICS OF NIFECO CU/CO SPIN-VALVE TRILAYERS/

Digital magnetoresistance (MR) properties of the sheet and patterned N iFeCo/Cu/Co spin-valve trilayer films were characterized, As reported in our previous publication, NiFeCo/Cu/Co films showed strong in-plane uniaxial magnetic anisotropy on a special template, 4 degrees tilt-cu t Si(111) wafer with a 50 a of Cu underlayer, without any externally a pplied magnetic field during the deposition, In order to demonstrate t he industrial applicability of NiFeCo/Cu/Co films on the specific temp lates for digital MR devices, dynamic and static MR measurements were performed along the easy axis of the films, For dynamic MR measurement , NiFeCo/Cu/Co films were optimized with respect to Cu spacer thicknes s and patterned into a stripe of high aspect ratio of 1: 200 (height: width) where the easy axis of the film was aligned along the height di rection, After patterning, uniaxial magnetic anisotropy was maintained , and MR properties showed no appreciable degradation, Therefore, it w as belie,ed that the special template is effective for the uniaxial ma gnetic anisotropy of NiFeCo/Cu/Co films and useful in the industrial a pplications, MR properties of sheet and patterned trilayer films sugge st that these NiFeCo/Cu/Co spin valves on the specific templates are g ood candidates for digital MR devices such as magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM).