Giant magneto-optical anisotropy in Fe/Au monoatomic multilayer

A giant magneto-optical anisotropy (MOA) in a magnetic monoatomic Fe/Au mul tilayer structure is reported. The dependence of the off-diagonal part of t he optical conductivity tensor on the angle between the magnetization and c rystallographic axes is evidenced by measurements of both the polar and lon gitudinal Kerr effects. The microscopic origin of the MOA is elucidated on the basis of the first principles' band-structure calculations. A relations hip of the MOA with the predicted strong anisotropy of Fe d orbital magneti c moment and the magnetocrystalline anisotropy is discussed. (C) 2000 Elsev ier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.