Abstract
(NiFe/Cu)8NiFe/Fe GMR multilayers were prepared by means of a newly developed magnetron sputtering system based on a process that we have termed "magnetron sputtering enhanced with an inductively coupled rf plasma." The cathode in this system has an rf coil attached to the planar magnetron sputtering target. The sputtering method was found to ionize the sputtered atoms very efficiently, and to be able to sustain the plasma even in an Ar gas atmosphere of 10-2Pa. A second peak of the MR oscillation of the multilayers was observed in the vicinity of 2 nm of the Cu layer thickness, and the maximum value of the MR ratio was 5.8% in a GMR film of [NiFe(1.8 nm)/ Cu(1.1nm)] ×8/NiFe(10nm)/Fe(10nm). The full width at half maximum of the GMR curve was 35 Oe.
