Magneto-optical Kerr effect of noncollinear antiferromagnetic Mn3Ir films

We present the magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) of (111)-oriented antiferromagnetic L12-Mn3Ir films epitaxially grown on MgO (111) substrates. We observed that the amplitude and sign of the polar MOKE change depending on the growth temperature. The Mn3Ir films grown at 800 and 600 °C have rotation angles of 41.6 and −4.6 mdeg and ellipticity angles of −15.3 and 9.1 mdeg, respectively. Residual strains owing to heteroepitaxial growth on the order of a few tenths of a percent can play a critical role in determining the amplitude and sign of the MOKE of a noncollinear antiferromagnet, unlike ferromagnets.