Chemical states of the atoms in magnetic multilayers Ta/NiOx/Ni81Fe19/Ta and Co/AlOx/Co

Ta/NiOx/Ni81Fe19/Ta and Co/AlOx/Co multilay-ers were prepared by rf reactive and dc magnetron sputter-ing. The exchange coupling field (Hex) and the coercivity (Hc) of NiOx/Ni81Fe19 as a function of the ratio of Ar to O2 during the deposition process were studied. The composition and chemical states at the interface region of NiOx/NiFe were also investigated using the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and peak decomposition technique. The results show that when the ratio of Ar to O2 is equal to 7 and the argon sputtering pressure is 0.57 Pa, the x value is approximately 1 and the valence of nickel is +2. At this point, NiOx is anti-ferromagnetic NiO and the corresponding Hex is the largest. As the ratio of Ar/O2 deviates from 7, the Hex will decrease due to the presence of magnetic impurities such as Ni+3 or metallic Ni at the interface region of NiOx/NiFe, while the Hc will increase due to the metallic Ni. Al layers in Co/AlOx/Co multilayers were also studied by angle-resolved XPS. Our finding is t