Correlation between the magnetic imaging of cobalt nanoconstrictions and their magnetoresistance response |
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Authors: | Fernández-Pacheco A Serrano-Ramón L E Tyliszczak T Chou K W Córdoba R Szkudlarek A Brien L O' Kapusta Cz Ibarra M R De Teresa J M |
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Affiliation: | Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Aragón (ICMA), Departamento de Física de la Materia Condensada, Universidad de Zaragoza-CSIC, Pedro Cerbuna 12, Zaragoza, Spain. af457@cam.ac.uk |
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Abstract: | Scanning transmission x-ray microscopy (STXM) and magnetoresistance (MR) measurements are used to investigate the magnetic behavior of a nanoconstriction joining two micrometric electrodes (a pad and a wire). The reversal of the magnetization under variable external static magnetic fields is imaged. By means of a detailed analysis of the STXM images at the nanocontact area, the MR is calculated, based on diffusive anisotropic-MR. This MR agrees well with that obtained from electrical transport measurements, allowing a direct correlation between the MR signal and the magnetic reversal of the system. The magnetization behavior depends on the sample thickness and constriction dimensions. In 40 nm-thick samples, with 20 × 175 nm(2) contact areas, the magnetization at the two sides of the constriction forms a net angle of 90°, with a progressive evolution of the magnetization structure between the electrodes during switching. The MR in those cases has a more peaked shape than with 20 nm-thick electrodes and 10 × 80 nm(2) contact areas, where the magnetization forms 180° between them, with a wide domain wall pinned at the constriction. As a consequence of this configuration, a plateau in the MR is observed for about 20 Oe. |
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