(651c) Magnetically Assembled and Magneto-Transport Studies of Single Ferromagnetic Nanowires

Facile, cost-effective, and manufacturable techniques to create single nanowire based devices with good electrical interconnects is demonstrated by combining template-directed electrodeposition, magnetic assembly, and a post-anneal in a reducing environment. Various ferroamgnetic nanowires with a diameter of approximately 30 nm were electrodeposited at room temperature using in-house made anodized alumina as a nanotemplate. After electrodeposition, nanowires were released from the template, precisely positioned, trapped, and assembled on ferromagnetic electrodes using the magnetic interaction between the nanowires and the electrodes. By annealing the interconnect in a reducing environment, the interconnect's resistance was dramatically reduced from >10 Mohms to 835 ohms. Magneto-transport studies of a single ferromagnetic interconnect with diameters ranging from 30 nm to 200 nm show a strong diameter and temperature dependent magnetoresistance, which might be attributed to different domain structure within the interconnect.