Magneto-optical Kerr effects in metallic superlattices fabricated by monatomic layer control—comparison between experiments and first-principles calculations

Abstract The magneto-optical Kerr effects in metallic superlattices (Fe/Au, Co/Ru) fabricated by monatomic layer control technique were measured and compared with first-principles calculations. For Fe/Au, the measured Kerr spectra of Fe( x ML)/Au( x ML) ( x =1–6, ML: monatomic layer thickness) showed systematic change with the change of layer thickness x . For Co/Ru, the measured Kerr rotation angle of Co(5 ML)/Ru(5 ML) was almost ten times smaller than that of HCP Co. The calculated results from first-principles were in reasonable agreement with the experimental results. The characteristics of the spectra can be understood from the analysis of the electronic structure.