Selected orientations of epitaxial Co/Pt superlattices were grown on GaAs substrates in [001], [110], and [111] orientations using seeded epitaxy techniques. The microstructural and magnetic properties of Co/Pt superlattices are presented. The magnetic anisotropies of Co/Pt superlattices are found strongly dependent on the crystallographic orientation of the growth axis. High-resolution cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (HRXTEM) investigation of the Co/Pt interfaces has revealed the presence of a large number of planar defects in the [111] Co/Pt superlattice. HRXTEM shows that the interface of Co/Pt is wavy and is not atomically abrupt. These findings suggest that models for the magnetic anisotropy should not be based on idealized, chemically abrupt interfaces but should incorporate magnetocrystalline anisotropy in the alloy region. We propose a model for the magnetic anisotropy based on the N6el magnetic surface anisotropy and the existence of defects in the alloy region. The easy axis of the magnetic anisotropy predicted by the model agrees with the magnetic and structural data for the superlattices.

The structural and magnetic properties of sputtered Ag/Co, Pd/Co, and AgPd/Co multilayered films were investigated. When substrate temperature during deposition (Ts) was set at room temperature, the easy magnetization axis of the Pd/Co films with Co thickness less than 7Å was normal to the film plane and that of the Ag/Co films was parallel. AgPd/Co multilayered films showed a transition of the preferred direction of magnetic moment from lying in the film plane towards lying along the film normal when increasing the Pd concentration above 81 at%. Moreover, an anomalous reduction of the saturation magnetization was found. The perpendicular magnetic anisotropy of Pd/Co films with low Ts increased with decreasing the thickness of Co layer. However, the Pd/Co films with high Ts showed opposite tendency.

It is shown that a (biaxial) vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) can be used to determine the magnetic anisotropy of thin films. Besides the commonly measured component along the magnetic field also the component perpendicular to the magnetic field was measured. Experiments were performed in a magnetic field of fixed magnitude as a function of the angle between the field and the film plane. These type of measurements give both an accurate estimate of the magnetic anisotropy and also show when domains are formed during rotation of the magnetization. The method has been applied to determine the magnetic anisotropy of Co/Pd and Co/Cu multilayers. The results are compared to those obtained with alternative methods.

The contribution of strains to anomalous surface and interface magnetic anisotropies cannot be analyzed quantitatively without knowledge of the ME coupling coefficients there. We have measured the ME coupling coefficients Bs near the surface (~0.5nm) of two amorphous alloys, Fe77Cr6B17 (with bulk magnetostriction λs = +7 × 10−6) and Co76Cr4B20 (λs = -3.8 × 10−6) and found them to differ significantly from the bulk values Bb: Fe-base, Bs = -1.7 × 105 J/m3 (57% of Bb) and Co-base, Bs = 5.8 × 105 J/m3 (three times Bb).

The bilayered films composed of magneto-optical(MO) amorphous Tb-Fe-Co alloy and reflective Al layers were deposited successively on glass slide substrates without plasma exposure by using the facing targets sputtering system. The specimen films with the thickness of MO layer tMO below 5 nm showed apparent perpendicular magnetic anisotropy constant Ku of 2 to 3×106 erg/cm3 and rectangular Kerr loop. The specimen film with tMO of 14 nm took the Kerr rotation angle θk as large as about 0.36 degree, at the wavelength λ as short as about 400 nm. These values of θK is considerably larger than those of the bilayered films in the conventional MO media. Normally, the bilayered films with tMO above 50 nm took θK of about 0.25 degree at θK of 400 nm.

A Method for calculation of the optical and magneto-optical response of multilayered structures in which the layers are atomically thick is presented. The method can be used to calculate the response of any flim which has arbitrary compositional varaiation in the direction normal to the film plane as well. Calculations are presented for Tb/Co compositionally modulated alloys.