Antiferromagnetic hysteresis in magnetoresistive multilayers investigated by X-ray resonant scattering,

We have used resonant scattering of polarized soft x rays as a direct probe of the magnetic order in a weakly coupled Co/Cu multilayer. Our field dependent results, combined with in situ resistance measurements, show a direct correlation between magnetoresistance and antiparallel magnetic ordering in reversible and irreversible processes. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.