MAGNETIC-STRUCTURE DETERMINATION FOR FE3O4/NIO SUPERLATTICES

Neutron diffraction measurements reveal the nature of the magnetic structure in Fe3O4/NiO superlattices grown by molecular beam epitaxy. Taking advantage of differences between the Fe3O4 and NiO crystalline symmetries, we have determined independently the magnetic order parameters of the bilayer components. The NiO antiferromagnetic order propagates coherently through several superlattice bilayers, while the magnetic coherence of the ferrimagnetic Fe3O4 is restricted to a single interlayer due to the random stacking of the spinel unit cells at the interfaces. A model for the diffraction data, based upon a Hendricks-Teller description of the interfacial disorder, demonstrates that the observed broadening of selected reflections originates directly from these stacking faults.