Abstract
Single-crystalline antiferromagnetic artificially layered [Ni/Mn] films of different thicknesses, covered by ferromagnetic Co layers, are deposited on Cu 3 Au(001) . Their structural and magnetic properties are characterized by low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) and magneto-optical Kerr effect, respectively, and compared with disordered Ni x Mn 100-x alloy films with the same Ni/Mn ratio and the same film thickness. LEED intensity-versus-energy curves show that the perpendicular interatomic lattice distance is decreased in the artificially layered [Ni/Mn] samples in comparison to the disordered Ni x Mn 100-x alloy films. At the same time, the artificially layered [Ni/Mn] films exhibit higher coercivity and exchange bias of the adjacent Co layer compared to those of Ni x Mn 100-x /Co . This is discussed as a consequence of the different interatomic lattice distance, presumably caused by an ordered buckling in the artificially layered [Ni/Mn] samples, leading to a stronger interlayer exchange coupling.