We report the difference in activation volumes of wall-motion and nucleation processes in Co/Pd multilayers. Each activation volume was estimated from field dependence of wall-motion speed and nucleation rate, obtained by real-time domain imaging using a magneto-optical Kerr effect microscope. Delicate analysis shows that the two activation volumes are generally unequal and the ratio between th...

Fe(0 0 1) thin films (70 ( A) with Fe(7.2 ( A) tracer layers at the interface were epitaxially grown on GaAs(4 6) surfaces. Magneto-optic Kerr effect and Ferromagnetic resonance measurements indicate a dominant 2-fold in-plane magnetic anisotropy (easy axis along [1 1 0]) superimposed to a 4-fold anisotropy, and small coercivity (B10Oe). M . ossbauer (CEMS) measurements indicate no magnetic ‘‘d...

We present a study of the ordering temperature of an ultrathin antiferromagnetic film in the proximity of a ferromagnetic layer. The Néel temperature of a single-crystalline antiferromagnetic FexMn1-x film on Cu(001) in contact with a ferromagnetic Ni layer was monitored by the discontinuity in the coercivity as a function of temperature by magneto-optical Kerr effect measurements. It decreases...

The correlation between an ad-layer-induced spin reorientation transition (SRT) and the ad-layer-induced structural relaxation is investigated by combined in situ surface x-ray diffraction and magneto-optical Kerr-effect experiments on Ni/Fe/Ni(111) layers on W(110). The Fe-induced SRT from in-plane to out-of-plane, and the SRT back to in-plane upon subsequent coverage by Ni, are each accompani...

We have performed a two-color time-resolved magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) study of a ferromagnetic InMnAs/GaSb heterostructure. We observed ultrafast photoinduced changes in the MOKE signal induced by a large density of spin-polarized transient carriers created only within the InMnAs layer using intense 140 fs mid-infrared pulses. Our data clearly demonstrates that magnetic properties, e.g...

The longitudinal magneto-optical Kerr effect is used to obtain a calibrated measure of the dynamic magnetization response over the ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) profile for in-plane magnetized Permalloy films excited with high power in-plane transverse microwave fields at 1.25 to 3.75 GHz and in-plane precession angles up to about 20 degrees. The data provide a profound demonstration of the Suh...

We report time resolved measurements of spin and carrier relaxation in InAs films with carrier densities of 1.3 1016 and 1.6 1016 cm−3 grown on 001 and 111 GaAs, respectively. We used standard pump-probe and magneto-optical Kerr effect spectroscopy at different excitation wavelengths, power densities, and temperatures. We observed sensitivity of carrier and spin relaxation time to the photoindu...

Ultrafast spin dynamics in ferromagnetic half-metallic compound Sr 2 FeMoO 6 is investigated by pump-probe measurements of magneto-optical Kerr effect. Anomalous thermal insulation between spins and electrons due to half-metallic nature of this material gives rise to a very slow spin relaxation from a few to several-hundred picosecond after the optical excitation. The optically detected magneti...

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We report unexpected phenomena during magnetization reversal in ultrathin Co films and Co/Pt multilayers with perpendicular anisotropy. Using magneto-optical Kerr microscopy and magnetic force microscopy we have observed asymmetrical nucleation centers where the reversal begins for one direction of the field only and is characterized by an acute asymmetry of domain-wall mobility. We have also o...