Spin canting of Ni/CoO/Fe films grown on curved MgO(001) substrate

• Published in: Journal of magnetism and magnetic materials 2022-11, Vol.561 (C), p.169668, Article 169668
• Main Authors: Yang, M., Li, Q., N'Diaye, A.T., Shafer, P., Klewe, C., Wang, T.Y., Wu, Y.Z., Zhang, Xixiang, Hwang, C., Qiu, Z.Q.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0304-8853
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jmmm.2022.169668

Using element-resolved x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) and x-ray magnetic linear dichroism (XMLD) measurements, we determined the spin orientations of Ni, CoO and Fe films in Ni/CoO/Fe films grown on a curved MgO(001) substrate. We find that the vicinal surface of MgO(001) substrate results in a spin canting towards out-of-plane direction in the Ni and CoO films as a result of the interfacial coupling. The Ni spin canting angle increases monotonically with the vicinal angle in the studied range of 0–17° and the CoO spin canting angle increases more rapidly towards saturation only at a few degrees of the vicinal angle. The uniaxial magnetic anisotropy induced in the Ni layer by the Ni/CoO interfacial coupling is quantitatively determined and is shown to increase monotonically with the vicinal angle. Our result provides a new pathway for tailoring the spin orientation by modifying the substrate surface symmetry in combining with the ferromagnetic/antiferromagnetic interfacial interaction in thin-film based spintronic devices.