Magneto-optic studies of Fe Au multilayers

Magneto-optic (MO) polar and longitudinal Kerr spectroscopy is applied to r f sputtered Fe/Au multilayers characterized with SQUID magnetometry, ferrom agnetic resonance and Lorentz microscopy, The main trends in MO spectra are explained by computer simulations using bulk data for Fe and Au. At lower Fe thickness the spectra show the Au plasma edge peak and the structure ass igned to quantum well states. The reduced amplitudes and peak broadening wi th respect to the model in the measured spectra are explained as an effect of Au-Fe mixing at interfaces. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights re served.