Anisotropic magnetoresistance and spin-valve effect in all-metal mesoscopic spin-valve devices

We have fabricated all-metal lateral spin-valve devices consisting of two permalloy electrodes and an interconnecting aluminum strip. The micromagnetic behavior of the device has been imaged with a magnetic-force microscope in external magnetic fields at room temperature. During a single cooling cycle at temperatures between 2 and 120 K we have measured the anisotropic magnetoresistance of both electrodes and the magnetoresistance of the entire device. In the latter, we can clearly identify the contributions of the anisotropic magnetoresistance and the mesoscopic spin-valve effect.