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We investigated the magneto-optical Kerr effects in C2v symmetric Fe/GaAs(110) film and quantitatively separated the linear and quadratic Kerr contributions with the rotating field method. The linear Kerr effect was experimentally found to have twofold anisotropy with crystal orientation, in well agreement with the theoretical prediction. In addition, the quadratic Kerr effects exhibit both twofold and fourfold anisotropy. The calculation based on a 4×4 transfer matrix method indicates that the anisotropies of the linear and quadratic Kerr effects both originate from the second order magneto-optical coupling. The C2v symmetric film with anisotropic linear Kerr effect may have a potential application on the future precise magneto-optical sensors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The in-plane magnetic anisotropy in the Fe/MgO/GaAs(001) system has been carefully studied as a function of MgO thickness. The epitaxial relation is Fe(001)[110]//MgO(001)[100]//GaAs(001) [100] for dMgO >1 monolayer (ML). The interfacial uniaxial anisotropy was greatly reduced by the MgO interlayer, and the easy axis of the fourfold anisotropy was found to rotate from the GaAs<100> direction to the GaAs<110> direction. Such anisotropy transition happens within the 1.2 ML MgO thickness range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The magnetic properties of antiferromagnetic (AFM) spins were investigated using x-ray magnetic linear dichroism (XMLD) in epitaxial NiO/CoO/MgO(001) films as a function of film thickness, temperature, and interface modulation. We found that the NiO AFM spins undergo a spin reorientation transition (SRT) from the in-plane orientation to the out-of-plane orientation at a critical NiO thickness. The NiO AFM SRT can be attributed to the competition between the out-of-plane anisotropy of the NiO AFM spins and the AFM interfacial exchange coupling with the CoO in-plane spins. The NiO SRT thickness increases with the CoO thickness and also with the interfacial coupling strength. The temperature-dependent XMLD measurement indicates that the exchange coupling at the NiO/CoO interface can greatly enhance the Néel temperature of the CoO layer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]