Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
The Faraday rotation and optical absorption of ferromagnetic Mn5Ge3 thin films have been measured in the visible and near infrared. Apart from a gradual rise in optical density in the near uv, the absorption is featureless to 2.5 μ. The Faraday rotation behaves similarly. At 500 mμ the room-temperature absorption coefficient α and the 5°K saturation rotation F are 3.5×105 cm−1 and 2.1×105 deg/cm, respectively. The rotation decreases with rising temperature and vanishes at 40°C which agrees well with the bulk Curie temperature of 37°C. The in-plane coercive field Hc decreases monotonically with temperature as Tc is approached. For a 900-Å-thick film Hc is 260 Oe at 0°C. The dependence of magnetic and magneto-optical properties on film structure is discussed.
E. Sawatzky (1971) studied this question.