Magnetism and magneto-optics of nanocrystalline Ni ∕ Pt multilayers grown by e-beam evaporation at room temperature

We report on magnetic and magneto-optic property aspects of nanocrystalline Ni ∕ Pt multilayers grown by e-beam evaporation at room temperature. X-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy measurements show high degree of multilayer sequencing and formation of nanocrystals with a relatively narrow size distribution. Magneto-optic polar Kerr effect experiments reveal a spin-polarized Pt contribution at around 3.3 eV and enhanced room temperature Kerr rotation for samples with very thin Pt layers surrounded by thicker Ni layers. The uniaxial anisotropy constants are obtained by simulating the magnetization curves and a tendency for perpendicular magnetic anisotropy is observed.