Dresden 2017 – wissenschaftliches Programm

Bereiche | Tage | Auswahl | Suche | Aktualisierungen | Downloads | Hilfe

MA: Fachverband Magnetismus

MA 6: Magnetic Instrumentation and Characterization

MA 6.1: Vortrag

Montag, 20. März 2017, 09:30–09:45, HSZ 403

What is the longitudinal magneto-optical Kerr effect? — Jon Ander Arregi, Patricia Riego, and •Andreas Berger — CIC nanoGUNE, San Sebastian (Spain)

We explore the commonly used classification scheme for the magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE), which essentially utilizes a dual definition based simultaneously on: (i) the components of the magnetization vector with respect to the plane of incidence and (ii) specific elements of the reflection matrix, which describe light reflection from a ferromagnetic surface. We find that an unambiguous correspondence in between both definitions is valid only in special cases, while in more general cases, it leads to inconsistencies due to an intermixing of the presumed separate MOKE effects of longitudinal, transverse and polar magnetization components. As an example, we investigate in this work both theoretically and experimentally a material that possesses anisotropic magneto-optical properties in accordance with its crystal symmetry. The derived equations predict a so-far unknown polarization effect for the transverse magnetization component and at the same time, explain inconsistencies in between Kerr rotation and ellipticity measurements in the longitudinal geometry. Experimental results on epitaxial hcp Co films confirm our findings and demonstrate that magneto-optical anisotropy causes significant deviations from the commonly employed MOKE data interpretation scheme.