title: Anisotropic magnetoresistance and anisotropic tunneling magnetoresistance due to quantum interference in ferromagnetic metal break junctions.
abstract: We measure the low-temperature resistance of permalloy break junctions as a function of contact size and the magnetic field angle in applied fields large enough to saturate the magnetization. For both nanometer-scale metallic contacts and tunneling devices we observe large changes in resistance with the angle, as large as 25% in the tunneling regime. The pattern of magnetoresistance is sensitive to changes in bias on a scale of a few mV. We interpret the effect as a consequence of conductance fluctuations due to quantum interference.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Atomic and Solid State Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
authors.forename: Kirill I
authors.initials: KI
authors.lastname: Bolotin
authors.forename: Ferdinand
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kuemmeth
authors.forename: D C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Ralph