EXPLORATION OF MAGNETIZATION REVERSAL AND COERCIVITY OF EPITAXIAL NIO(111) NIFE FILMS/

We have grown epitaxial NiO {111} films of thicknesses ranging from 60 to 1200 Angstrom, deposited 45 Angstrom NiFe films on these NiO subst rates, and made measurements of exchange field and coercivity, of the effective uniaxial anisotropy, of rotational hysteresis, and of the tr aining effect on these films. We find that the large coercive fields, similar to 500 Oe, observed in these epitaxial systems can be understo od using a model in which the magnetization reversal process is by rot ation, with the coercive field determined by the effective uniaxial an isotropy of the system. This effective anisotropy is in turn determine d by the anisotropy of the NiO and depends on NiO thickness. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.