Structural and magnetic characterization of epitaxial $\mathrm{V}_{2}\mathrm{O}_{3}/\text{Ni}_{80}\text{Fe}_{20}$ hybrid magnetic structures

We study the structure and temperature depen-dent electrical and magnetic properties of highly epitaxial
$\mathrm{V}_{2}\mathrm{O}_{3}/\text{Ni}_{80}\text{Fe}_{20}$
layers grown on c-plane
$\mathrm{A}1_{2}\mathrm{O}_{3}$
by direct current magnetron sputtering. We focus our attention on the structural and magnetic properties of the Ni
80
Fe
20
layer and their dependence on the deposition temperature. X-ray diffraction measurements reveal an epitaxial nature of the
$\mathrm{V}_{2}\mathrm{O}_{3}$
layers with a (006) orientation. Electrical characterization of single layered
$\mathrm{V}_{2}\mathrm{O}_{3}$
reveals a metal insulator transition at around
$\sim 150$
K. All samples showed a strong epitaxial (1 1 1) peak showing that highly crystallized
$\text{Ni}_{80}\text{Pe}_{20}$
layers can be deposited onto
$\mathrm{V}_{2}\mathrm{O}_{3}$
at room temperature. Angular dependent magneto-optical Kerr effect characterization of the films reveals a uniaxial anisotropy in the films with a coercivity of the order of 1 Gauss. The first-order reversal curve method is used to analyze the magnetization reversal mechanism.