Superparamagnetism of ultrathin Co film on antiferromagnetic Cr 2O3 layer

Abstract

The effect of antiferromagnetic Cr2O3 thin film on the magnetic properties of ultrathin Co film has been investigated. To achieve the investigation, we have also investigated the fabrication of Cr2O3 thin film of high quality using MBE. The crystalline quality of Cr oxide film strongly depends on the in-plane epitaxial variants of Cr(110) before the oxidation. We have successfully fabricated Cr2O3(0001) film by oxidizing three fold-symmetric Cr(110) film. On Cr2O3(0001) thin film, the magnetization of Co is stabilized parallel to the Cr spin direction below the Néel temperature of Cr2O3. © 2009 IOP Publishing Ltd.