Influence of domain wall density on interlayer coupling in CoFe/Au/Co/Au multilayers

We measure magnetization reversal and giant magnetoresistance of CoFe/Au/Co/Au multilayers and use micromagnetic simulations to model them. We characterize the system by perpendicular and easy-plane effective anisotropy of Co and CoFe layers, respectively. We show that minor hystereses of magnetoresistance can be reasonably well described by the model. The simulations show that the variation of resistance with the field depends on the field strength at which the sweep reverses, and is correlated with the number of stripe domains present in the Co layers.