S. Visnovsky

Magnetooptic ellipsometry in multilayers at arbitrary magnetization

The Yehs 4 x 4 matrix formalism is applied to determine the electromagnetic wave response in multilayers with arbitrary magnetization. With restriction to magneto-optic (MO) effects linear in the off-diagonal permittivity tensor elements, a simplified characteristic matrix for a magnetic layer is obtained. For a magnetic film-substrate system analytical representations of the MO response expressed in terms of the Jones reflection matrix are provided. These are numerically evaluated for cases when the magnetization develops in three mutually perpendicular planes.

Magneto-optical effects in Au/Co/Au ultrathin film sandwiches

Abstract This paper deals with the study of magneto-optical effects exhibited in perfect Au/Co/Au ultrathin films structures as a function of magnetic field and photon energy. They stand as ideal basic structures to test theories describing the magneto-optical effects in multilayers. In both optical transmission and polar Kerr rotation dispersion spectra, the main feature is a prominent peak centered near the photon energy of 2.5 eV, which corresponds to the plasma edge and reflectivity minimum in gold. The observed trends in magneto-optical effects are explained using the electromagnetic wave theory starting from the published optical and magneto-optical constants values in gold and cobalt thick films. The polar Kerr effect in our samples is a sum of one independent plus one linearly dependent term on the Co film thickness. The nonzero value of the thickness-independent term indicates the presence of a contribution not accounted for by the employed electromagnetic wave model.

Magneto-optical studies of Pt/Co multilayers and Pt-Co alloy thin films

The authors consider magnetooptical spectroscopic studies of Pt/Co multilayers grown onto glass by dual electron beam evaporation an RF-sputtered Co rich Pt/sub x/Co/sub 1-x/ alloy films. Simultaneous polar and longitudinal magnetooptical Kerr experiments were carried out in the spectral range between 1.5 and 5.2 eV. The effect of the deposition temperature and that of subsequent heat treatment on the Kerr spectra is studied. In alloys Kerr rotation reached the value of 0.66 deg at 4.3 eV for x=0.41. >

Magnetooptical polar kerr effect in ferrimagnetic garnets and spinels

The complex polar Kerr spectra of ferrimagnetic garnets and spinels have been studied in the spectral region from 2 to 6 eV. The influence of Ga, Al, In, Sc, Pr, Sm, Tb and Ho on garnet spectra is presented and discussed. The reflectivity and dielectric tensor element spectra were also obtained for selected samples and the data is then used in the explanation of the spectra in terms of charge transfer transitions. In particular the bands near 3.4, 3.6, 4.3 and 4.7 eV are respectively assigned to the transitions to t 2g , e, t 2 and e g orbitals. The effect of polishing on reflectivity spectra of lithium ferrite is briefly discussed.

Structural, magnetic, and spectroscopic magneto-optical properties aspects of Pt–Co multilayers with intentionally alloyed layers

Polycrystalline Pt–Co multilayers with intentionally alloyed layers were grown by e-beam evaporation on polyimide, Si, and glass substrates. X-ray diffraction spectra show that the multilayered structure of the samples degrades as compared to conventional Pt–Co multilayers. This degradation depends on the compositional variation of the intentionally alloyed layers. Magnetometry measurements reveal enhanced magnetization values for all samples, exceeding even by 90% the one of bulk Co, at a temperature of 10 K. This is attributed to both Pt-induced and enhanced Co magnetic moments, according to x-ray magnetic circular dichroism experiments. Spectroscopic magneto-optic measurements reveal large negative polar Kerr rotation maxima at photon energies between 4 and 4.4 eV due to the intense magneto-optic response of spin-polarized Pt.

Structural and spectroscopic magneto-optic studies of Pt–Ni multilayers

Ptm–Nin multilayers were grown by e-beam evaporation under ultrahigh vacuum; m and n will depict the number of atomic planes of the corresponding constituents in one modulation period and, in this work, they were varied between 1 and 14. X-ray diffraction and conventional electron microscopy experiments revealed a fcc polycrystalline structure with excellent modulation. Magneto-optic properties, studied at room temperature between 1.5 and 5.2 eV, were found to depend strongly on both m and n. Perpendicular anisotropy was exhibited for samples with thin Ni layers and, unexpectedly, for thicker Ni layers when Pt layers became considerably thin (m∼2). Comparison of the magneto-optic features of two similar samples grown on glass and polyimide revealed that the choice between glass and polyimide does not affect magneto-optic properties.

Magnetooptic depth sensitivity in a simple ultrathin film structure

Abstract Polar magnetooptics (MO) is able to probe the magnetization depth profile in ultrathin magnetic film structures on a nanometer scale. This information can be deduced by modelling the MO effects in the considered layered medium when performing MO experiments with a compensator or changing the wavelength of the incident light beam. Spectroscopic MO measurements are then helpful for analysing this phenomenon in detail. The in-depth selectivity of MO effects for magnetization is demonstrated for a simple ultrathin film structure consisting of two magnetic Co layers with perpendicular anisotropy separated by a non-magnetic Au spacer layer. The individual magnetic contributions of the two Co layers may be observed directly when performing MO Kerr measurements at selected compensator phase shifts or photon energies. The experimental data are interpreted by MO calculations in both cases.

Convergence properties of critical dimension measurements by spectroscopic ellipsometry on gratings made of various materials

Spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) in the visible/near-UV spectral range is applied to monitor optical critical dimensions of quartz, Si, and Ta gratings, namely, the depth, linewidth, and period. To analyze the SE measurements, the rigorous coupled-wave theory is applied, whose implementation is described in detail, referred to as the Airy-like internal reflection series with the Fourier factorization rules taken into account. It is demonstrated that the Airy-like series implementation of the coupled-wave theory with the factorization rules provides fast convergence of both the simulated SE parameters and the extracted dimensions. The convergence properties are analyzed with respect to the maximum Fourier harmonics retained inside the periodic media and also with respect to the fineness of slicing imperfect Ta wires with paraboloidally curved edges.

Evidence of native oxides on the capping and substrate of Permalloy gratings by magneto-optical spectroscopy in the zeroth- and first-diffraction orders

Magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) spectroscopy in the zeroth- and first-diffraction orders at polar magnetization is applied to Permalloy wire gratings deposited on Si substrates and protected by Cr capping. The experimental MOKE data are compared with data simulated using the local modes method. The extensive simulations of the MOKE spectroscopic parameters exhibit significant sensitivity to t(Cr2O3) and t(SiO2), the thicknesses of native oxide layers developed on the capping and the substrate, respectively. The approach may be useful for monitoring the basic micromagnetic properties of small elements with nanometer-scale resolution, as well as for monitoring the deposition processes and aging of magnetic nanostructures in magnetic recording and magnetic random access memory technologies.

Magneto-optic polar Kerr and Faraday effects in periodic multilayers

Magnetooptic (MO) effects in magnetic multilayers with periodically stratified regions are analyzed for the case of normal light wave incidence and polar magnetization (Faraday and polar Kerr effects). From the universal 4 x 4-matrix formalism simplified analytical representations restricted to terms linear in the off-diagonal permittivity tensor elements are obtained with no loss in accuracy. The MO effects are expressed as weighted sums of contributions from individual layers. Approximate expressions useful for the evaluation of trends in MO effects are given for periodic multilayers consisting of blocks with ultrathin magnetic films. The procedure is illustrated on periodic systems built of symmetric units. Limits on the ultrathin approximation are discussed.