Berlin 2005 – scientific programme

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MA: Magnetismus

MA 7: Magnetische dünne Schichten II

MA 7.5: Talk

Friday, March 4, 2005, 16:15–16:30, TU H1012

Polar contribution to longitudinal magneto-optical Kerr signal — •M. Przybylski, M. Nyvlt, J. Barthel, A. Winkelmann, and J. Kirschner — Max-Planck-Institut für Mikrostrukturphysik, Weinberg 2, D-06120 Halle

Magneto-optical Kerr rotation loops were measured for Co films on single crystal Pd substrates. Variation of the Kerr signal with the Co thickness showed an abnormal behavior in the range where a perpendicular magnetization component is detected in polar geometry. Such a component appears in the low Co thickness limit due to an out-of-plane anisotropy of the Co/Pd system caused by hydrogen adsorption. The abnormal behavior of the Kerr signal arises from the polar contribution to the longitudinal effect. When the magnetic field is applied perfectly in the film plane, the perpendicular component of magnetization cannot be reversed. Consequently, no polar contribution should be detected. A small misalignment between the field and the sample plane is sufficient to produce a small polar field (with respect to the longitudinal one) which can reverse the perpendicular magnetization component. Actually, the applied field must be quite strong in order to achieve its sufficient polar projection. The fact that the No-dqcoercivityNo-dq of the abnormal longitudinal loops scales with the coercivity of the polar loops supports the above interpretation. The coercivity scaling factor increases with the angle by which the magnetization is tilted from the sample plane.