Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 February 2011
The magnetoresistive effect first observed in Fe/Cr and other antiferromagnetically coupled metallic multilayered structure, has also been observed, albeit somewhat attenuated, in structures where the magnetic layers are not coupled. We explain the magnetoresistive effect in these systems that are nominally uncoupled, and we provide a new interpretation for the magnetoresistance of Co/Cu, Fe/Cr and Co/Ru by considering these multilayered structures to consist of, not only ferro and antiferromagnetically aligned layers, but also mixtures of the two which have zero magnetization.