Indications of antiferromagnetic interlayer coupling in La2/3Ba1/3MnO3/LaNiO3 multilayers

Multilayers consisting of the perovskite metallic oxides, ferromagnetic ${\mathrm{La}}_{\mathrm{2/3}}{\mathrm{Ba}}_{\mathrm{1/3}}{\mathrm{MnO}}_{\mathrm{3}}$ (LBMO) and paramagnetic ${\mathrm{LaNiO}}_{\mathrm{3}}$ (LNO) have been grown by ozone-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. Structural characterization using in situ reflection high-energy electron diffraction and high-resolution x-ray diffraction reveal a very high degree of crystalline order. Magnetization and hysteresis measurements show evidence of antiferromagnetic coupling between LBMO layers when the LNO spacer is 15 Å or less in thickness.