Effect of MgO/Co interface and Co/MgO interface on the spin dependent transport in perpendicular Co/Pt multilayers

Effect of the metal/oxide interface on spin-dependent transport properties in perpendicular [Co/Pt](3) multilayers was investigated. The saturation Hall resistivity (rho(xy)) is significantly increased by 45% with 1.4 nm thick CoO layer inserted at the top Co/MgO interface; whereas it is increased only 25% with 1 nm thick CoO layer at the bottom MgO/Co interface. The interfacial structures characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy show that the MgO/Co interface and Co/MgO interface including chemical states play a dominant role on spin-dependent transport, leading to different anomalous Hall behavior. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.