Separation of the first- and second-order contributions in magneto-optic Kerr effect magnetometry of epitaxial FeMn/NiFe bilayers

Abstract

The influence of second-order magneto-optic effects on Kerr effect magnetometry of epitaxial exchange coupled FeMn/NiFe-bilayers is investigated. A procedure for separation of the first- and second-order contributions is presented. The full angular dependence of both contributions during the magnetization reversal is extracted from the experimental data and presented using gray scaled magnetization reversal diagrams. The theoretical description of the investigated system is based on an extended Stoner-Wohlfarth model, which includes an induced unidirectional and fourfold anisotropy in the ferromagnet, caused by the coupling to the antiferromagnet. The agreement between the experimental data and the theoretical model for both the first- and second-order contributions are good, although a coherent reversal of the magnetization is assumed in the model.

arXiv comment6 pages, 7 figures, submitted to J. Appl. Phys

References in corpus (1)

• Induced four fold anisotropy and bias in compensated NiFe/FeMn double layers

Cited by in corpus (8)

• Huge quadratic magneto-optical Kerr effect and magnetization reversal in the Co${}_2$FeSi Heusler compound
• Ion beam induced modification of exchange interaction and spin-orbit coupling in the Co${}_2$FeSi Heusler compound
• Vectorial observation of the spin Seebeck effect in epitaxial NiFe${}_2$O${}_4$ thin films with various magnetic anisotropy contributions
• Cubic magneto-optic Kerr effect in Ni(111) thin films with and without twinning
• Quadratic magnetooptic spectroscopy setup based on photoelastic light modulation
• FMR studies of exchange-coupled multiferroic polycrystalline Pt/BiFeO${}_3$/Ni${}_{81}$Fe${}_{19}$/Pt heterostructures
• Cubic magneto-optic Kerr effect in Co(111) thin films
• Cubic-in-magnetization contributions to the magneto-optic Kerr effect investigated for Ni(001) and Ni(111) thin films