Chunyan Luo

The properties of magneto-optical MnBiY (Y = Al, Ag, Au, Cu, In, Zn, Pt) thin films

The crystal structure and the magneto-optical properties of MnBiY (Y = Al, Ag, Au, Cu, In, Zn, Pt) thin films were investigated. It is found that suitable doping of Al into MnBi greatly improves the properties of MnBi, such as a large enhancement of the Kerr rotation (theta(K) = 2-degrees at 633 nm), fine grain size (< 0.04 mum) and good thermal stability, which make it a promising material for MO discs. Pt doped MnBi thin film also has a large polar Kerr rotation, but the phase transition that appears in MnBi seems to be retained. Ag, Au, Cu, In doped MnBi films destroy the MO properties of the MnBi film, hence they are not suitable for MO disk material. Finally, the reason of the large enhancement of theta(K) in the Al doped MnBi film is discussed.