A ferromagnet/antiferromagnet (FM/AFM) Fe/NiO bilayer was grown using molecular beam epitaxy on MgO(001) and Cr buffered MgO(001) substrates. X-ray linear dichroism measurements showed a dominating out-of-plane component for the NiO spins in Fe/NiO/MgO and an in-plane spin direction for NiO layers grown on the Cr buffer. Furthermore, systematic studies on the magnetic properties of Fe/NiO grown on the wedge-shaped Cr buffer revealed a continuous strain-induced spin reorientation transition from out-of-plane to in-plane NiO spin directions when the Cr thickness increased from 0 nm to 3.5 nm. The analysis of the in-plane magnetic structure of NiO in Fe/NiO/Cr showed a pronounced uniaxial anisotropy in thin AFM layers. The AFM spins are perpendicular to the Fe spins due to spin–flop interaction. These results demonstrate the feasibility of using strain and coupling with FMs to manipulate spin structures in NiO.

中文翻译：

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通过外延应变和自旋-触发器耦合控制反铁磁 NiO 中的自旋取向

使用分子束外延在 MgO(001) 和 Cr 缓冲的 MgO(001) 衬底上生长铁磁体/反铁磁体 (FM/AFM) Fe/NiO 双层。X 射线线性二色性测量显示 Fe/NiO/MgO 中 NiO 自旋的主要面外分量和生长在 Cr 缓冲层上的 NiO 层的面内自旋方向。此外，对楔形 Cr 缓冲层上生长的 Fe/NiO 磁性的系统研究表明，当 Cr 厚度从 0 nm 增加时，连续应变诱导的自旋重定向从面外到面内 NiO 自旋方向转变到 3.5 纳米。对 Fe/NiO/Cr 中 NiO 的面内磁结构的分析表明，在薄 AFM 层中具有明显的单轴各向异性。由于自旋-触发器相互作用，AFM 自旋垂直于 Fe 自旋。