Combining localised and global structural information we suggest that differences in the maenetoresistive effect in the first maximum of antiferromagnetic coupling in Co/Cu multilayers can be attributed to the number of magnetic shortcuts localised at grain boundaries. In particular evidence is given that the increased rms-roughness in samples without buffer as compared to samples grown on a Fe buffer can be attributed to a break off of the multilayer structure in adjacent grains. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. [References: 8]

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