Abstract
Single-twin (T)-domain NiO films were obtained by stress induced during the growth, and the exchange anisotropy between NiO and NiFe films was studied by using micromagnetic modeling. The compressive strain along the [111] is -7.16×10 -4 , which forces spins of NiO to lie on the (111) plane parallel to the film surface. The neutron diffraction shows that the moments of NiO predominantly lie in the film plane with random orientations, that is, the NiO is of a single T-domain, and multi-spin-rotation-domains in the film plane. The effective crystalline anisotropy of (111) NiO, calculated from micromagnetic modeling, is 2.4×10 4 ergs/cm 3 . The majority of NiO moments at the interface switched along with NiFe moments due to the low effective anisotropy, leading to a large coercivity and a low exchange field. © 2002 American Institute of Physics.