Epitaxial NiO-Co exchange-biased bilayers grown on MgO single crystals Influence of the substrate orientation on the film morphology, the Co structure and the magnetic behavior

Abstract

ABSTRACTCo/NiO bilayers have been grown on MgO(001), MgO(110) and MgO(111) substrates in an ultra high vacuum sputtering chamber. Growth mode and surface morphology are investigated by X-ray diffraction, Reflection High Energy Electron Diffraction (RHEED), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM). NiO layers grow epitaxially whatever the substrate orientation. Flat surfaces are observed on NiO/MgO(001) whereas on MgO(110) the NiO surface exhibits a roof-like morphology consisting in (100) and (010) facets elongated along the [001] direction. On MgO(111), the NiO surface presents pyramids with {100} facets. A temperature dependence of the cobalt layer structure is observed: on NiO(001) at room temperature it grows in its high temperature face-centered cubic structure (fcc), whereas it has the hexagonal close-packed structure (hcp) when deposited at slightly higher temperatures.