  The influence of second-order magneto-optic effects on Kerr effect
magnetometry of epitaxial exchange coupled FeMn/NiFe-bilayers is investigated.
A procedure for separation of the first- and second-order contributions is
presented. The full angular dependence of both contributions during the
magnetization reversal is extracted from the experimental data and presented
using gray scaled magnetization reversal diagrams. The theoretical description
of the investigated system is based on an extended Stoner-Wohlfarth model,
which includes an induced unidirectional and fourfold anisotropy in the
ferromagnet, caused by the coupling to the antiferromagnet. The agreement
between the experimental data and the theoretical model for both the first- and
second-order contributions are good, although a coherent reversal of the
magnetization is assumed in the model.
