This thesis aims to explore the effect of in situ ion gun etching on magnetic proper- ties, such as perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, of Pt/Co/Pt multilayers. Perpendicular magnetic anisotropy is of interest due to its importance in spintronic application. Calibration spectroscopic ellipsometry measurements of Pt and Co layers to obtain sputter yields of respective magnetron targets were performed as a first step. After that, ten Pt/Co/Pt multilayers with different Co and top Pt layer thicknesses were prepared. Five of these samples were etched by the ion gun, mounted inside of the magnetron chamber, during different stages of the deposition. To characterize the prepared samples, experimental and modeled Kerr rotation spectra were confronted. This provided an insight into the cross-sections of the investigated samples. Magnetic hysteresis loops measured by vibrating sample magnetometer and Kerr rotation setup demonstrated higher coercive field and change of the slope of the loop induced by ion etching. When compared to the obtained cross-sections, a correlation between the change of magnetic loops and intermixing of Pt and Co at the interface was visible. This intermixing was higher in samples treated by the ion gun. 1

In this thesis we studied precession mechanism in ferromagnetic thin film half-metal NiMnSb. We measured magnetization oscillations using optical pump and probe experiment at temperatures between 15 and 200 K and we evaluated the magnetic anisotropy fields, spin stiffness and Gilbert damping. New setup for ferromagnetic resonance measurement was built utilizing vector network analyser. With this setup we measured FMR at temperatures between 300 and 75 K. We evaluated the same parameters from FMR experiments as from the optical one. We found very good agreement in results obtained by the two methods. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

In this work we study ultrafast laser-induced magnetization dynamics in samples of ferromagnetic semiconductor Ga1−xMnxAs with a nominal concentration of Mn within the range of x = 0,015-0,14. To get information about magnetization movement we use magneto-optic phenomena PKE and MLD in a time-resolved pump & probe experiment. Thorough analysis of the measured magneto-optical signal allows us to disentangle contributions due to angular movement of magnetization and due to demagnetization and to reconstruct 3D motion of magnetization vector without any numerical modeling. First we explain the basis of this experimental method and we demonstrate its utilization on the measured data. After that we study angular movement of magnetization vector and its dependence on the external magnetic field, excitation intensity and Mn concentration. The pump pulse helicity dependent and independent dynamics were treated separately. In the case of demagnetization we have been able to observe not only its intensity and Mn doping dependence but also the magnetic field dependence, which has not been reported so far in the literature.

Title: Magnetic nanostructures for recording and optical sensors Author: Eva Lišková Department: Institute of Physics, Charles University Supervisor: Prof. Ing. Štefan Višňovský, DrSc. Abstract: Magneto-optical (MO) spectra of multilayered structures with enhanced MO effect were studied using the polar and longitudinal Kerr spectroscopy with oblique angle of light incidence in the photon energy range 1.2 eV to 5 eV. The samples with Fabry- Perot cavity like architecture, were modeled using Yeh matrix formalism. Two sets of samples, with composition FeF2/Fe/FeF2 and AlN/Fe/AlN, were prepared by molecular beam epitaxy and sputtering. The relations were studied between the position of the enhanced peak in the MO spectra and the structure. Second part of this work was devoted to the Pt/Co/Pt structures and the influence of the ion implantation on MO spectra and structural composition. The studied multilayer structures present interest for MO sensor and memory applications. Keywords: Magneto-optical Kerr effect, Magneto-optical sensor, Fabry-Perot resonator, Ion implantation

This thesis is divided into three main sections that deal with optical and magnetic thin films properties and their measurements techniques. Principles of the spectroscopic reflectometry and measurements of optical properties are described in the first part. Results of imaging reflectometry are most important. This technique is based on in situ monitoring of optical properties of SiO2 thin films during etching over the area cca 10 × 13 mm2. In next section magnetic properties of thin films and new apparatus built on the Institute of Physical Engineering of BUT are shown. Magnetic properties were observed by longitudinal magneto-optical Kerr effect. The construction of the device is based on a light beam with rectilinear polarization reflected from magnetic material with turned polarization. For investigation of local magnetic properties of microstructures a microscope objective focusing laser beam on the sample is used. The last part of the thesis is aimed on improving of a spin valve structure Co/Cu/NiFe. This work was done within the frame of the Erasmus project in Laboratoire Louis Néel in Grenoble. The goal was to achieve the value of GMR (Giant Magnetoresistance) as high as possible by changing of deposition parameters. This value describes the rate of resistances in different mutual directions of magnetization in trilayers.

The aim of this thesis is a systematic study of physical properties of magnetic multilayered nanostructures. Namely it include multilayered spin valves NiFe/Cu/Co with magnetic anisotropy iduced by magnetic field applied during the deposition. Induced magnetic anisotropy influences exchange interactions between magnetic layers and so it gives the possibility to control magnetic properties of nanolayers. This is important for applications in MRAM, magnetoresistive read heads and spin-transfer-torque devices. Magnetooptic spectroscopy and Kerr effect hysteresis loop measurement were used as effective probe techniques. Secondly we examinated Ar3+ rf sputtering influence on multilayer interface quality level. We found out, that Ar3+ irradiation during deposition process has a possitive effect on interface quality.

Two groups of magnetic oxides were investigated in this thesis. Thin films of La2/3Sr1/3MnO3 (LSMO) deposited by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) on SrTiO3 (STO) substrates were characterized by polar and longitudinal magneto-optical (MO) Kerr spectroscopy. Experimental results were compared to theoretical calculations based on the transfer matrix formalism. A very good agreement between experimental and theoretical data revealed high magnetic ordering down to 5 nm of film thickness as well as a mechanism of suppression of double exchange interaction near the LSMO/STO interface. Magnetically doped Ce1-xCoxO2-δ films deposited by PLD on MgO (x = 0.05 and 0.10) and oxidized Si (x = 0.20) substrates were studied by combination of spectroscopic ellipsometry and MO Faraday and Kerr spectroscopy. Both diagonal and off-diagonal permittivity tensor components were obtained and verified by theoretical calculations confronted with experimental data. Diagonal spectra revealed two optical transitions from oxygen to cerium states. Off-diagonal spectra revealed two paramagnetic transitions involving cobalt ions. An essential influence of cobalt doping on the resulting ferromagnetic properties of CeO2 was observed.

Modification of interfaces in nanostructures can significantly influence their overall properties. Magneto-optical spectroscopy and spectroscopic ellipsometry are ideal for studying these phenomena thanks to their in-depth sensitivity and contactless measurements. Two methods of nonreversible modification of magnetic properties, especially the magnetic anisotropy, are investigated. The measured spectral dependence of magneto-optical Kerr effect is compared to a theoretical calculation in order to determine the profile of the samples for different levels and methods of modification. In addition to this, ellipsometric measurements are performed on a device whose optical properties change by voltage application.

Two important mechanisms in preparation of ultrathin films of magnetic oxides were systematically investigated in this work. First, influence of epitaxial strain on resulting magneto-optical properties of La2/3Sr1/3MnO3 (LSMO) ultrathin films was studied. The investigated films were grown by pulsed laser deposition on four different substrates, providing a broad range of induced epitaxial strains. Magnetic properties were found to deteriorate with increasing value of the epitaxial strain, as expected due to the unit cell distortion increasingly deviating from the bulk and effect of the magnetically inert layer. A combination of spectroscopic ellipsometry and magneto-optical Kerr effect spectroscopy was used to determine spectra of the diagonal and off-diagonal elements of permittivity tensor. The off-diagonal elements confirmed presence of two previously reported electronic transitions in spectra of all films. Moreover, they revealed another electronic transition around 4.3 eV only in spectra of films grown under compressive strain. We proposed classification of this transition as crystal field paramagnetic Mn t2g → eg transition, which was further supported by ab initio calculations. A key role of strain in controlling electronic structure of ultrathin perovskite films was demonstrated. Dynamic application of...

The aim of this master thesis is to prepare and systematically characterize two groups of ultra-thin films of iron garnets with different compositions and deposition conditions. The first set consists of approximately 10 nm thick samples of gallium-doped yttrium-iron garnet on gadolinium gallium garnet (Gd3Ga5O12) (GGG) substrates with different crys- tallographic orientations and different annealing temperatures. The second group con- tains gallium-bismuth-doped neodymium-iron garnet on GGG substrates. These samples have different thicknesses, the concentration of individual elements and different annealing temperatures. All samples were prepared by the metal-organic decomposition method. The analysis of their physical properties was done by magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) and optical experiments. Specifically, MOKE spectroscopy, Faraday hystere- sis loops measurements and spectroscopic ellipsometry. Obtained experimental results were further used to deduce the spectral dependence of complete permittivity tensor. Its spectral dependence was than discussed with relation to the electronic structure of in- vestigated materials which helped to select the best deposition conditions and substrate orientation. 1