Modelling the sensitivity of infrared emissivity of magnetic thin films to giant magnetoresistance

The correlation between emissivity and giant magnetoresistance (GMR) in magnetic thin films is investigated at infrared (IR) wavelengths using a thin-film model of emissivity. The sensitivity of emissivity to GMR is shown to depend upon film thickness, and agrees excellently with bulk-material results for films thicker than the material skin depth. However, for films thinner than the skin depth the sensitivity to GMR is shown to weaken. In addition, at mid-to-far IR wavelengths the spectral dependence of the correlation is investigated using a modified Drude-type expression for the refractive index combined with the thin-film model. This is applied to a multilayered GMR material, and the sensitivity of emissivity to GMR is shown to have a similar spectral dependence to that of the magnetorefractive effect. An analytical interpretation in terms of skin depth is also developed at long wavelengths, and shown to agree excellently with thin-film simulations.