J. Appl. Phys. 75 (10) 15 May 1994, pp. 6461-6463

Orientationally independent antiferromagnetic coupling in epitaxial Fe/Cr (211) and (100) 
superlattices

Eric E. Fullerton, M. J. Conover, J. E. Mattson, C. H. Sowers, S. D. Bader

We present structural and magnetic characterization of epitaxial Fe/Cr(211) and Fe/Cr(100) 
superlattices grown simultaneously on MgO(110) and MgO(100) substrates by magnetron 
sputtering. The epitaxial orientation of the Fe/Cr(211) superlattice with the MgO(110) 
substrate is Fe/Cr[0-11]//MgO(001] and the orientation of Fe/Cr(100) is 
Fe/Cr[001]//MgO[011]. We find that for both orientations, the interlayer coupling 
oscillates in sign with a period of 18 AA, and furthermore, the strngth and phase of the 
magnetic coupling are als onearly identical for these two orientations.