Magnetooptical properties of Fe/Pd multilayer films

Multilayer films of Fe(x)/Pd(30 Å) (6≤x≤30 Å) are investigated with the help of the transversal Kerr effect (TKE) with incident light in the energy range 1.3–3.6 eV. Oscillations of the TKE depending on the thickness of the iron layer are revealed. The off-diagonal element of the dielectric tensor ? ₂ ^′ is calculated using themeasured values of the TKE for two incidence angles of light and the optical constants of all samples. It is shown that the quantity ? ₂ ^′ ω² (where ω is the frequency of incident light), which is proportional to the interband density of states, also oscillates, and its oscillations are similar in character to oscillations of the Kerr effect. The observed oscillatory dependence of the TKE and of the interband density of states are related to the manifestation of quantum confinement effects.