Effects of injection current pulses on magnetic domain switching in stableelectrodeposited 10nm Ni contacts

Nanometric (10-100 nm) time-stable ferromagnetic contacts between two macro scopic Ni wires have been produced by electrochemical deposition. The influ ence of the applied magnetic held and of current pulses on the resistance o f the contacts has been studied at room temperature. Changes of magnetoresi stance under small magnetic fields (25-100 Oe) and current pulses of densit y 10(9) A/cm(2) reach values as high as 40% at room temperature. They are a ttributed to modifications of the domain configuration near the sides of th e contact, produced by the rotational field induced by the injection curren t but also could be due to the exchange driven fields. The phenomena report ed here are of importance for their potential applications in integrated ma gnetoelectronics. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.