EXAMINATION OF MAGNETOOPTIC TRANSVERSE KERR EFFECT MEASUREMENTS IN THIN MAGNETIC-FILMS EXHIBITING PERPENDICULAR ANISOTROPY

A uniaxial perpendicular magnetic anisotropy is perhaps one of the mos t important properties exhibited by thin film materials suitable for h igh-density magneto-optic recording disks. Previous works report studi es of this anisotropy in amorphous rare earth-transition metal (RE-TM) alloys using measurements of the polar Kerr magneto-optic effect to p rovide the basic data. The experimental data so obtained is complement ary to that usually provided by torque and VSM magnetometry but are so metimes difficult to analyse and not always unambiguous. We describe a n examination of the data provided by the transverse Kerr magneto-opti c effect in an attempt to provide further useful information concernin g the nature of the anisotropy in magneto-optic recording materials.