Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 February 2011
We report structural properties of PtFe and PtCo intermetallic compounds with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy and a preferred c-axis orientation perpendicular to the film plane, formed from initially epitaxial multilayers. These materials represent particular cases of a more general class of anisotropic magnetic compounds with the CuAu(1) natural superlattice structure. They possess high magneto-optic Kerr rotations and magnetizations, suggesting them as likely candidates for magneto-optic and perpendicular magnetic recording media.