Manipulating current-induced magnetization switching (invited)

We summarize our recent findings on how current-driven magnetization switching and magnetoresistance in nanofabricated magnetic multilayers are affected by varying the spin-scattering properties of the nonmagnetic spacers, the relative orientations of the magnetic layers, and the spin-dependent scattering properties of the interfaces and the bulk of the magnetic layers. We show how our data are explained in terms of a current-dependent effective magnetic temperature.