The effects of deposition rate on exchange coupling field H_ex and coercive field H_c in NiO spin-valves are discussed. The H_ex and H_c increased with deposition rate of NiO film. The rms roughnesses of the NiO deposited at 6 Å/min (NiO-Low) and 30 Å/min (NiO-High) were almost similar, however, the short-range roughness increased with the deposition rate. The H_ex, H_c and surface morphologies for the modulated NiO spin-valve films such as NiO-Low＼NiO-High＼NiO-Low and NiO-High＼NiO-Low were investigated.