Current distribution in metallic multilayers from resistance measurements

Ondrej Stejskal (1) , André Thiaville (2) , Jaroslav Hamrle (1) , Shunsuke Fukami (3) , Hideo Ohno (3)

1 CU - Charles University [Prague]
2 LPS - Laboratoire de Physique des Solides
3 Tohoku University [Sendai]

The in-plane current profile within multilayers of generic structure Ta/Pt/(CoNi)/Pt/Ta is investigated. A large set of samples where the thickness of each layer is systematically varied was grown, followed by the measurement of the sheet resistance of each sample. The data are analyzed by a series of increasingly elaborate models, from a macroscopic engineering approach to mesosco-pic transport theory. Non-negligible variations of the estimated repartition of current between the layers are found. The importance of having additional structural data is highlighted.

Domains: Physics [physics]; Condensed Matter [cond-mat]; Other [cond-mat.other]

Ondrej Stejskal, André Thiaville, Jaroslav Hamrle, Shunsuke Fukami, Hideo Ohno. Current distribution in metallic multilayers from resistance measurements. Physical Review B, 2020, 101 (23), ⟨10.1103/PhysRevB.101.235437⟩. ⟨hal-02889443⟩