Magnetotransport behavior of Co nanowires coupled to Ni80Fe 20 films

Abstract

We have fabricated and characterized hybrid-trilayer ferromagnetic structures comprising of 60-nm-thick Ni80Fe20 (Py) film grown on top of patterned array of 60-nm-thick Co nanowires (NWs) with Cu spacer layer. The hybrid structures display unique magnetic and transport properties due to the nonuniform magnetization distribution from the Py layer inducing local stray fields, which could be coupled to the underlying Co NWs. The temperature dependence of the magnetoresistance behavior is dominated by the interplay between the anisotropic magnetoresistance and the giant magnetoresistance effects. © 2010 American Institute of Physics.