Effect of Ga+ irradiation on the magneto-optic spectra of Pt/Co/Pt sandwiches

Interfacial changes in rf sputtered Pt/Co(2.6 nm)/Pt sandwiches grown onto sapphire (Al2O3) substrates induced by irradiation of 30 keV Ga+ ions at low dose (1014 ions/cm2) have been investigated by magneto-optic polar Kerr rotation (PKR) spectroscopy between 1 and 5 eV. The irradiation resulted in an increase of PKR over the whole spectral range. The measured PKR spectra were compared with those computed from the transfer matrix formalism using known polar Kerr rotation and ellipticity spectra for Co and five CoxPt1−x alloys. The comparison between measured and computed PKR spectra provided an in-depth profile of Co and Pt ion distributions across the sandwich and confirmed that irradiation favors alloying in the vicinity of the two interfaces. These results are in a good agreement with the profile evaluated independently by TRIDYN simulations. Our results evidence an asymmetry in the irradiation effect due to an excess of Pt–Co alloying at the upper interface. Moreover, the observation of a negative PKR peak around 3.2 eV states definitively the presence of a chemically ordered Co0.75Pt0.25 alloy phase inside the irradiated film structure.