Electron interaction with domain walls in antiferromagnetically coupled multilayers

F. G. Aliev; R. Schad; A. Volodin; K. Temst; C. Van Haesendonck; Y. Bruynseraede; I. Vavra; V. K. Dugaev; R. Villar

doi:doi:10.1209/epl/i2003-00597-2

DOI: 10.1209/epl/i2003-00597-2
Europhys. Lett., 63 (6) , pp. 888-894 (2003)

Electron interaction with domain walls in antiferromagnetically coupled multilayers

F. G. Aliev¹, R. Schad², A. Volodin³, K. Temst³, C. Van Haesendonck³, Y. Bruynseraede³, I. Vavra⁴, V. K. Dugaev⁵ and R. Villar¹

¹ Departamento de Física de la Materia Condensada, C-III Universidad Autónoma de Madrid - Madrid, Spain
² CMIT, University of Alabama - Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, USA
³ Laboratorium voor vaste Stofffysica en Magnetisme, K.U. Leuven B-3001 Leuven, Belgium
⁴ Institute of Electrical Engineering-SAS - 84239 Bratislava, Slovakia
⁵ Max-Planck-Institut für Mikrostrukturphysik - Weinberg 2, 06120 Halle, Germany

(Received 2 May 2003; accepted 4 July 2003)

Abstract
For antiferromagnetically coupled $\chem{Fe/Cr}$ multilayers the low-field contribution to the resistivity $\rho_{\ab{DW}}$ , which is caused by the domain walls, is strongly enhanced at low temperatures. The low-temperature resistivity $\rho_{\ab{DW}}$ varies according to a power law, $\rho_{\ab{DW}}(T)=\rho_{\ab{DW}}(0)-A\cdot T^\alpha$ with the exponent $\alpha \simeq 0.7$ -1. This behavior cannot be explained assuming ballistic electron transport through the domain walls. It is necessary to invoke the suppression of anti-localization effects (positive quantum correction to conductivity) by the non-uniform gauge fields caused by the domain walls.

PACS
75.60.-d - Domain effects, magnetization curves, and hysteresis.
75.70.-i - Magnetic properties of thin films, surfaces, and interfaces.
75.47.De - Giant magnetoresistance.

© EDP Sciences 2003