Material Dependence of Thermally Assisted Magnetization Reversal Properties in Microstructured Co/Pd Multilayers

Using extraordinary Hall resistance (R-H) measurements, the material dependence of thermally assisted magnetization reversal (TAMR) was investigated for microstructured multilayers of [Co (0.17 nm)/Pd (0.80 nm)](N) with N = 7 and 20, which exhibit markedly different magnetic properties. The threshold values of the external field (H-w,H-th) necessary for controlling the magnetization direction in TAMR, obtained by direct application of a current pulse to the sample, were 220 Oe for the N = 7 and 710 Oe for N = 20 samples. The values of H-w,H-th are found to be related to the magnetization saturation field at a critical temperature at which apparent coercivity decays. (C) 2009 The Japan Society of Applied Physics DOI: 10.1143/APEX.2.033001