Inclination angle dependence of magnetoresistance signals in thin magneticfilms

Magnetic films of nickel and iron with thicknesses of 200 Angstrom were pla ced with a certain inclination angle. Then, the magnetoresistance (MR) was measured by rotating the inclined film samples around an axis perpendicular to the applied magnetic field. We observed a transition from P(positive)MR to N(negative)MR, which depended on the rotation angle phi. A mixing of th e PMR and the NMR signals in the MR was observed, and the complete mixing a ngle, phi (mix) of the PMR and the NMR signals in the MR was found to stron gly depend on the inclination angle of the film. The dependence of this ang le, phi (mix) on the inclination angle for the nickel film could be underst ood by decomposing the magnetic field into components parallel and perpendi cular to the current in the plane of the film. However. the variation of th e behavior of phi (mix) with the inclination angle for the iron film was ob served to be different from that for the nickel film. This difference may c ome from the fact that the film surface of the iron film is an intermediate plane of magnetization while the film surface of the nickel film is an eas y plane of magnetization.