Magnetic and magneto-optic study of a layered Co/Pt-Dysprosium-iron-garnet system

We have studied the effects of placing Co/Pt multilayers on dysprosium-iron-garnet doped with bismuth and aluminum. The garnet was deposited by RF-magnetron sputtering and crystallized by rapid thermal annealing. The Co/Pt multilayers were then deposited by DC-magnetron sputtering. The garnet thickness was held constant at 1000 /spl Aring/ while the Co/Pt multilayer had the form of [3 /spl Aring/ Co/9 /spl Aring/ Pt]/sub n/ with n ranging from 1 to 16. Coercivities of the samples ranged from about 300 to 2000 Oe. Kerr rotations were as high as 1.8/spl deg/ and ellipticities up to 2/spl deg/ depending upon the wavelength of light and the number of Co/Pt bilayers. Magneto-optic signal figures of merit are determined for several of these composite systems.