Magnetoresistance of ferromagnetic nanowires

Magnetoresistance of single Ni and Co nanowires, of about 60 nm in diameter and 6000 nm in length, was measured at room temperature. The full magnetoresistive hysteresis loops of single Ni nanowires, including the irreversible jump, are understood qualitatively, and major progress has been made towards their quantitative description, on the basis of anisotropic magnetoresistance. In contrast, the magnetoresistive hysteresis loops of single Co nanowires could not be described quantitatively, due to the presence of nucleation processes of domain walls or vortices. [S0031-9007(99)09021-3].