Abstract
Fe/Si multilayered films (MLF) exhibiting a strong antiferromagnetic (AF) coupling were investigated by optical and magneto-optical (MO) spectroscopies. The results were compared with the computer-simulated spectra based on various structural models of MLF. It was shown that neither semiconducting FeSi2 nor ε-FeSi can be considered as the spacer layers in the Fe/Si MLF for the strong AF coupling. The optical properties of the spacer extracted from the effective optical response of the MLF strongly support its metallic nature. A reasonable agreement between experimental and simulated equatorial-Kerr-effect spectra was obtained with the fitted optical parameters of the spacer with the FeSi stoichiometry. Comparison of the extracted optical properties of the spacer with the calculated ones by using the first principles showed that a B2-phase metallic FeSi compound is spontaneously formed at the interfaces during deposition. For the Fe/Si system with ultrathin Fe and Si sublayers (thinner than 1 nm), our optical data indicate that the structure of the whole MLF is close to the amorphous and semiconducting ε-FeSi.
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