We have simultaneously measured the field dependence of transverse voltages at two pairs of transverse probes along with the magnetoresistance to detect the motion of ferromagnetic domain walls in a thin NiFe wire. We observed sharp steplike changes of the transverse voltage correlated with the jumps in magnetoresistance, which have been reported previously in thin ferromagnetic wires. The field dependence is explained in terms of the rotation of local magnetization near the transverse probes. This fact suggests that such a local magnetization rotation might contribute to some of the negative domain-wall resistivity reported in recent papers.

• Received 23 July 1999

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.61.3227