Enhanced Kerr rotation in electrodeposited nickel films

High quality nickel films were electrodeposited directly onto n-GaAs using galvanostatic control. It was seen that by varying the current density the crystallographic orientation of the films could be controlled. For a curren t density of 15 mA/cm(2), a highly dominant (220) crystallographic orientat ion was obtained, Magnetic measurements revealed a strong uniaxial anisotro py in these films, Moreover, Kerr spectroscopy measurements (1.4 to 4.5 eV) showed an enhanced Kerr rotation of -0.17 degrees at 3.2 eV, which may be attributed to the strong magnetic anisotropy and the exceptional crystal qu ality of the films.