The role of molecular beam epitaxy in research on giant magnetoresistance and interlayer exchange coupling

In this paper, we review the contributions which MBE (molecular beam epitaxy) has made to the field of GMR (giant magnetoresistance) and interlayer exchange coupling in magnetic multilayers and sandwiches. A historical overview is given and a key advantage of MBE over alternative preparation techniques is emphasized: the ability to probe in situ the growth and structure of these materials. Recent work on surfactant-mediated growth of Co/Cu(lll) sandwiches and the resulting reduction of growth-induced defects are discussed. A comparison of results for multilayers grown via MBE and sputtering is made for several GMR materials systems. It is seen that these preparation techniques are complementary.