MAGNETIC-ANISOTROPY IN EPITAXIAL CU NI/CU/SI(111) ULTRATHIN FILMS STUDIED BY MAGNETOOPTICAL KERR-EFFECT AND BRILLOUIN SPECTROSCOPY/

Epitaxial ultrathin Cu/Ni/Cu films with Ni thickness of 3 and 6 nm, ha ve been grown by UHV evaporation on the Si(1 1 1)-7 x 7 surface. Magne to-optical Kerr-effect measurements have shown that the preferential d irection of magnetization lies in the film plane for both films. Brill ouin light scattering was then exploited to study the spin-wave disper sion as a function of both the applied magnetic field and the wave vec tor direction. This enabled us to determine, in addition to the other magnetic parameters, both the in-plane and the out-of-plane anisotropy constants. This is the first Brillouin scattering investigation of ma gnetic anisotropy in Ni films. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All righ ts reserved.