Effect of Spin-Orbit Interaction on the Magnetoresistance of Single-Crystal Nickel and Nickel-Iron Thin Films

Abstract

In a previous paper the author has reported the results of transverse magnetoresistance measurements performed on single-crystal nickel and nickel-iron thin films obtained by vacuum deposition. The anisotropies observed are in general agreement with the observations of Döring and Kaya for bulk single-crystal nickel. Smit has analyzed the anisotropies in the magnetoresistance of ferromagnetic materials in terms of the influence of the spin-orbit interaction and of Mott's theory of conduction in ferromagnetic materials. However, these results are suitable only for explaining the anisotropy between the resistances measured parallel to and transverse to the direction of the magnetization in the specimen. It is demonstrated herein that the previous work may be extended in a manner that describes the anisotropies observed in the transverse magnetoresistance of the ferromagnetic thin films as a function of the orientation of the magnetization.