90/spl deg/ coupling in NiFe/NiO/Co trilayers

Summary form only given. Perpendicular interlayer coupling in FeNi/NiO/Co trilayers has been measured by MOKE and by X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD). The (10 nm FeNi/t/sub NiO/NiO/2 nm Co) trilayers were grown by sputtering at zero field. The coupling has been studied as a function of the NiO thickness (t/sub NiO/=4, 8, 15, 25 nm). The NiO layers were deposited at oblique incidence to induce an in-plane uniaxial anisotropy in the Co layer. The magnetic characterization has been performed in both easy and hard-axis directions of the Co layer.