Orientationally independent antiferromagnetic coupling in epitaxial Fe/Cr (211) and (100) superlattices

We present structural and magnetic characterization of epitaxial Fe/Cr(211) and Fe/Cr(100) superlattices grown simultaneously on MgO(110) and MgO(100) substrates by magnetron sputtering. The epitaxial orientation of the Fe/Cr(211) superlattice with the MgO(110) substrate is Fe/Cr[011]//MgO[001] and the orientation of Fe/Cr(100) is Fe/Cr[001]//MgO[011]. We find that for both orientations, that the interlayer coupling oscillates in sign with a period of 18 A, and, furthermore, that the strength and phase of the magnetic coupling are also nearly identical for these two orientations.