Interrelation between optical and magneto-optical properties of MnSbBi(Pt,Co) films

Results of the study of optical and magneto-optical properties of MnSbBi(Pt, Co) films in a spectral region of 360–820 nm are reported. It is shown that the multilayer MnSbBi(Pt, Co) films obtained by magnetron sputtering possess considerable optical rotation in the geometry of the polar Kerr effect, which is as large as 0.5°–0.7° upon 5-h annealing of the films at 350°C. The spectral dependences measured for the magnitude of the polar Kerr effect showed that these films may be used for laser data recording in the short-wavelength spectral region, which substantially increases the recording density. Studies of the film structure by X-ray and electron diffraction analysis showed that the films have a polycrystalline structure, with granules 15–40 nm in size. Possible causes of a large magnitude of Kerr effect are analyzed.