Study on NiO/Fe interface with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

Different monolayers (ML) of Fe atoms were deposited on NiO (001) substrates or NiO underlayers using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), pulse laser deposition (PLD), and magnetron sputtering (MS). The magnetic properties and microstructure of the films were studied. The apparent magnetic dead layer (MDL) is found to exist at the NiO/Fe interfaces of the MBE sample (about 2 ML MDL), the PLD sample (about 3 ML MDL), and the MS sample (about 4 ML MDL). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy indicates the presence of ionic Fe (Fe²⁺ or Fe³⁺) and metallic Ni at the NiO/Fe interfaces, which may be due to the chemical reactions between Fe and NiO layers. This also leads to the formation of MDL. The thickness of the MDL and the reaction products are related with the deposition energy of the atoms on the substrates. The interfacial reactions are effectively suppressed by inserting a thin Pt layer at the NiO/Fe interface.