The authors report the spin diffusion length at in sputtered Ni of , and spin-dependent scattering parameters in Ni and at interfaces. They have employed current perpendicular to plane giant magnetoresistance in both a traditional and an alternative exchange-biased spin valve geometry that inserts a Ni “spoiler” layer into a Py/Cu/Py spin valve. Fits to data of vs Ni thickness using Valet-Fert theory [Phys. Rev. B 48, 7099 (1993)] show good agreement between fit parameters for both sample geometries.
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Data from samples with thicker Ni layers had unusually small values of and large coercive fields for the free layer approaching the pinning field of the Py layer. These observations indicate that the AP state was poorly formed; hence these data were discarded. Superconducting quantum interference device magnetometry measurements of isolated Ni films of thicknesses 80 and show low remanent magnetization and large saturation field. The behavior of the latter is similar to that seen in epitaxial (100) Ni films (Ref. 13), which was interpreted as evidence of out-of-plane magnetization.