Current distribution in spinvalve multilayer films determined from in-situ conductance measurements

In this paper, the conductance of top pinned spinvalves was measured during deposition using a four point Van Der Pauw geometry. This measurement has submonolayer resolution. The layers in the spinvalve were Ta (5 nm)/NiFe(5 nm)/CoFe(1 nm)/Ru(0.6 nm)/CoFe(1.5 nm)/IrMn(8 nm)/Ta(5 nm). The thickness of the Cu layers were 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 nm thick. The in-situ conductance data is given. The bulk conductivity of each layer in the spin valve was measured by growing a film where the layer was 30 nm thick and measuring the asymptotic conductivity.