Magnetoresistance of Bloch-wall-type magnetic structures induced in NiFe/CoSm exchange-spring bilayers

The magnetoresistance originating from magnetic structures with gradually rotating magnetic moments, like a Bloch wall, was investigated using soft-magnetic (NiFe)/hard-magnetic (CoSm) bilayers, whose magnetic structures were well characterized. The magnetoresistance was measured with an electric current in the film plane; the magnetoresistance in this geometry corresponds to that due to a current parallel to a Bloch wall. The main feature of the magnetoresistance curves was ruled by the anisotropic magnetoresistance. It was found that a giant magnetoresistance-type effect coexisted; the effect was very small in comparison with the anisotropic magnetoresistance effect.