Magnetoresistance of ferromagnetic nanowires

Magnetoresistance of single Ni and Co nanowires, of about 60 nm in diameter and 6000 nm in length, was measured at room temperature. The full magnetor esistive hysteresis loops of single Ni nanowires, including the irreversibl e jump, are understood qualitatively, and major progress has been made towa rds their quantitative description, on the basis of anisotropic magnetoresi stance. In contrast, the magnetoresistive hysteresis loops of single Co nan owires could not be described quantitatively, due to the presence of nuclea tion processes of domain walls or vortices. [S0031-9007(99)09021-3].