Derivation of simplified analytic formulae for magneto-optical Kerr effects

We have derived simplified analytic expressions for various magneto-optical Kerr effects of an optically thick medium having an arbitrary magnetization direction. We have found that the simplified formulae for the Kerr effects of p and s waves consisted of a product of two factors: the prefactor dependent pure optical parameters of the system and the main factor of the polar Kerr effect for a normal incidence case. The measured magneto-optic polar Kerr rotation angles of Co/Pd multilayers and the longitudinal Kerr rotation angles of Cu/Co multilayers with varying incident angles could be well fitted using the simplified analytical formulae. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.