Magnetic nanowires

We review recent developments in the research on magnetic nanowires electro deposited into pores of membranes. Typical nanowires fabricated by this met hod have a diameter in the range 30-500 nm for a length of the order of 10 mu m, and can be composed of a stack of layers of different metals with thi cknesses in the nanometer range (multilayered nanowires). We describe the p reparation methods and present typical examples of structural characterizat ion. We review the magnetic properties with examples of results on both arr ays of nanowires and isolated nanowires. We then describe the magnetoresist ance properties of multilayered nanowires, and their interest for their und erstanding of the CPP-GMR and the determination of spin diffusion lengths. The last section is an overview on the perspectives of future research. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.