Complex polar Kerr effect spectra in rf-sputtered Fe/Ag multilayers were measured in the spectral range 1.5–53 eV in a magnetic field of 0.45 T. The thicknesses of the individual iron layers in the three samples investigated were 11, 3.6 and 0.6 mm, while that of silver was kept at 6 nm. The observed spectra are explained in terms of the electromagnetic interaction in planar magnetic multilayer systems using published optical constants of iron and silver.

The complex polar magneto-optic Kerr spectra at the photon energy range 1.5 to 5.2 eV in amorphous TbxFe1-x films with 0.15 ≤ x ≤ 0.23 rf sputtered onto water cooled glass substrates and covered by Al2O3 layer, are presented. They extend the previously published data to higher photon energies where the combined effects of the enhancement by the Al2O3 and the oxide layer created at the metal dielectric interface and those of 4f-5d electronic transitions of terbium become important. An explanation of the spectra is proposed based on the knowledge of the Tb effect in iron garnets.