FIGURE OF MERIT FOR QUADRILAYER MO MEDIA

Optical properties of magneto-optic media with multilayer stack depend on the thickness and refractive indices of the each layer in the media. Figure of merit for the media can be defined in terms of reflectance, Kerr rotation angle, and Kerr ellipticity. It is possible to study the dependence of the figure of merit upon each of these parameters by modeling the optical properties of the thin film stack. There are two dielectric layers in the standard quadrilayer magnetooptic media. Suitable dielectrics are available with wide range of refractive indices. The dependence of the figure of merit on the dielectric layers has been studied. It is found that there is no significant variation in the maximum figure of merit that may be obtained with optimum layer thickness for refractive indices between 1.8 and 2.5.