Neutron studies of magnetic oxide thin films

We describe the use of neutron scattering techniques such as reflectivity and diffraction for the study of oxide thin films. We first describe how neutron reflectivity can complement x-ray reflectivity for the study of some oxide materials. We then emphasize magnetic thin films which have become an important field of study in the 1990s, following the discovery of new phenomena in heterostructures: magnetic exchange coupling, exchange bias coupling at antiferro/ferromagnetic interfaces, enhanced magnetism in ultrathin films or tunnel magnetoresistance for example. We show how neutron scattering can provide detailed quantitative information about the magnetization depth profiles of thin films and about the magnetic order in epitaxial films.