Magnetoresistance behavior of submicron Ni80Fe20 wires

We report the evolution of the magnetoresistance (MR) and magnetization behavior of Ni30Fe20 wire arrays as the width (w) is reduced from 200 to 0.3 mu m. At around 1.5 mu m width, the hysteretic behavior seen in continuous films shows the near reversible behavior characteristic of spin rotation processes. At low field (H<M(s)), the anisotropic magnetoresistance determines the response and is strikingly size dependent. At high field (H>M(s)), the linear MR response to the in-plane perpendicular hard axis field suggests a bulklike transverse MR effect. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.