Magneto-optic properties of a thin TbFe2 film studied by high magnetic field Kerr effect

Abstract The study of magnetic properties of thin layers of rare-earth and transition-metal intermetallic compounds requires measurement of weak magnetisation intensities under high magnetic fields. The magneto-optic Kerr effect (MOKE) can be an alternate method to investigate the magnetic properties of thin metallic layers. A recently developed experimental set-up devoted to MOKE under high magnetic field is described. We present the results of magneto-optic Kerr rotation of a 5 nm thick single-crystal TbFe 2 epitaxial layer up to 30 T. The absence of saturation might be attributed to a strong in-plane anisotropy arising from the epitaxial growth.