STRUCTURAL TRANSITION OF FE AND CO SUBLAYERS IN FE ZR AND CO/ZR MULTILAYERED FILMS INVESTIGATED BY MAGNETOOPTICAL SPECTROSCOPY/

The experimental and computer-simulation study of the magneto-optical properties (equatorial Kerr effect) of Fe/Zr and Co/Zr multilayered fi lms was carried out. Drastic changes in the magneto-optical properties of the Fe/Zr and Co/Zr multilayered films were observed with the ferr omagnetic sublayers that had less than the critical thickness. Such a behavior is connected with a polycrystalline-amorphous transformation in these sublayers. An annealing of the multilayered him led to a sign ificant increase in the equatorial Kerr effect value which is caused b y a partial crystallization of the amorphous Fe or Co sublayers. The r eal interface structures of the Fe/Zr and Co/Zr multilayered films wer e estimated by a fitting procedure between the experimental and the co mputer-simulated equatorial Kerr effect spectra of the multilayered fi lms. (C) 1998 American Vacuum Society.