Magneto-optical properties of two-layer film systems based on Fe and Cr

Abstract

The results of the investigation of two-layer Fe/Cr systems using the magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) are presented in this paper. The samples were obtained by thermal evaporation in a vacuum with a thickness of individual layers from 2 nm to 50 nm. It was found that the presence of the Cr layer significantly affects the values of the coercivity and the Kerr angle. At a substrate temperature of 450 K, the value of the coercivity is almost half that of the same sample obtained at room temperature of the substrate. In addition, the influence of the order of deposition of layers, as well as the effect of a thin gold protective layer on the parameters measured by the Kerr method, is shown. These studies have shown that the MOKE can be used as an additional method for studying the composition of multilayer systems, granular alloys and spin-valve systems, using specific software methods.