Abstract
We have investigated the effects of Ar and$O_2$-ion milling on the exchange coupling field ($H_{ex}$) and coercive field ($H_c$) at the interfaces between substrates and NiO/NiFe films, to understand the exchange biasing mechanism. The $O_2$-ion milling was successfully performed by means of the electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) process. We found that the local roughness gradient of the NiO surface increased by $O_2$-ion milling. The ratio of $H_{ex}/H_c$ increased from 0.87 to 1.77, whereas $H_c$ decreased by almost a half as a results of the ion milling. The decrease in $H_c$could be interpreted as due to the refinement of magnetic domain size, which arose from the increase of the local roughness gradient of the NiO surface. The decrease in low $H_c$, and increase in $H_{ex}$ in NiO spin valves by ECR-ion milling are in the right direction far use in magnetoresistance (MR) heads.