Magneto-optical properties of iron thin films on paramagnetic substrates

We present first principles calculations of the magnetic properties and the magneto-optical Kerr effect of iron thin films epitaxially grown on the [0 0 1] surface of two paramagnetic noble metals: Cu and Ag. We investigate the role of hybridization with the substrate and we show how the relaxation effects influence the complex Kerr angle. Our results are obtained using the relativistic full-potential linear muffin-tin method. The film is modeled using a slab geometry within a supercell technique. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.