OPTICAL AND MAGNETOOPTICAL PROPERTIES OF MBE GROWN CO AU MULTILAYERS/

The optical and magneto-optical properties of Co/Au multilayers, grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), have been examined in the wavelength range 300 to 900 nm using ellipsometry and normal incidence Kerr pola rimetry. The dispersion of fundamental optical and magneto-optical con stants and the complex Kerr rotation are discussed in terms of the int eraction of electromagnetic radiation with a multilayered structure. T his is done on the basis of a single equivalent layer approach for dea ling with multilayered media using values for the optical constants of cobalt and gold measured on single films of these materials grown by MBE. It is suggested that a restriction of the mean free path of the c onduction electrons in the gold layers, of the order of the individual sub-layer thickness, accounts for some aspects of the observed optica l spectra.