Dresden 2011 – scientific programme
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MA: Fachverband Magnetismus
MA 58: Spintronics II (jointly with TT, HL)
MA 58.7: Talk
Thursday, March 17, 2011, 18:45–19:00, HSZ 401
Local formation of a Heusler type structure in a CoFe-Al CPP-GMR spin valve — •Sabine Wurmehl1, Patrick J. Jacobs2, Jürgen T. Kohlhepp2, Henk J.M. Swagten2, Bert Koopmans2, Stefan Maat3, Matthew J. Carey3, and Jeff R. Childress3 — 1Institute for Solid State Research, IFW Dresden, P.O. Box 270116, D-01171 Dresden, Germany — 2Eindhoven University of Technology, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands — 3San Jose Research Center, Hitachi GST, 3403 Yerba Buena Road, San Jose, California 95135, USA
The magnetotransport properties of current-perpendicular-to-the-plane giant magnetoresistance devices consisting of ferromagnetic Co-Fe alloys have recently been shown to be significantly improved by addition of up to 28% Al. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is able to reveal the next neighboring shells of the 59Co nuclei in the Co-Fe-Al magnetic films. This sensitivity to small changes in the local (magnetic and electronic) environment makes NMR an ideal method to determine the local modifications upon addition of Al to the Co-Fe alloy. In our present NMR study, we demonstrate the local formation of a Heusler-like structure by addition of Al to the Co-Fe alloy in CPP-GMR multilayers. The observed local formation of a highly spin-polarized Heusler compound may be correlated to the observed enhancement of the GMR effect [1].
[1] Wurmehl et al. Appl. Phys. Lett. accepted (2010).