Current-perpendicular-to-plane giant magnetoresistance in Co/Cu multilayered nanocylinders electrodeposited into anodized aluminum oxide nanochannels with ultra-large aspect ratio

An anodized aluminum oxide (AAO) thick film with numerous nanochannels was synthesized by a cathodic exfoliation technique from a metallic aluminum rod. The nanochannel diameter D and length L were about 60 nm and 60 µm, respectively. The aspect ratio L/D reached ~ 1000. A rectangular pulsed potential deposition technique was applied to electrochemically grow the multilayered nanocylinders with alternating Cu and Co thin layers in the AAO nanochannels. The Co/Cu bilayer thickness was decreased to around 7 nm at the minimum by controlling the pulsed potential and duty cycle during the electrodeposition process. An electrochemical in situ single contact process was demonstrated by monitoring the observed current until a Co/Cu multilayered nanocylinder reached the nanoporous Au film on the AAO thick film. The resistance of the Co/Cu multilayered nanocylinder was determined to range from 1 to 2 kΩ, which corresponded well with a theoretical estimation. Current-perpendicular-to-plane giant magnetoresistance (CPP-GMR) of a Co/Cu multilayered nanocylinder with ~ 6000 bilayers (Cu = 2.4 nm, Co = 7.1 nm) reached up to 31.5% at room temperature. Valet–Fert model agreed well with the present study concerning the effect of Cu-layer thickness on CPP-GMR.