ELECTRODEPOSITION OF PATTERNED MAGNETIC NANOSTRUCTURES

We report on fabrication and characterization of two types of devices, both with submicronic dimensions, and fabricated by combining lithogr aphy and electrodeposition. The first device, obtained by combining el ectron-beam lithography and electrodeposition, was devised to measure the current perpendicular to the plane giant magnetoresistance (CPP-GM R) of a single permalloy/ copper multilayered nanopillar (height simil ar to 0.3 mu m, diameter similar to 0.1 mu m). Besides the fundamental interest of the spin-dependent transport properties in such nanoscale d magnets, this system is a potential candidate as a CPP-GMR sensor us ed, for example, to read very high-density magnetic storage. The secon d device, relevant for high-density storage media, consists in large a reas (4 x 4 mm(2)) of magnetic permalloy dots (diameter similar to 0.2 6 mu m, period similar to 0.4 mu m) electrodeposited in a x-ray patter ned photoresist matrix. We study the magnetic behavior of such mesosco pic pillars as a function of their height. We emphasize that our proce sses are less damaging for the nanostructures, in comparison with samp les prepared by high vacuum deposition followed by lithography. This i s because our magnetic nanostructures are electrodeposited after the w hole lithographic process. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics. [S0 021-8979(98)00923-2].