Periodic reversal of magneto-optic Faraday rotation on uniaxial birefringence crystal with ultrathin magnetic films

Abstract

An experimental approach of inclined incidence magneto-optic Faraday effect observed in the polar plane is applied. Three samples containing ferromagnetic cobalt ultrathin films on a semiconductor zinc oxide (0001) single crystal substrate with in-plane and out-of-plane anisotropy are evaluated. Through the fine adjustment of crossed polarizers in the magneto-optic effect measurement completely recorded the detail optical and magneto-optical responses from the birefringent crystal substrate and the magnetic film, especially for the signal induced from the substrate with uniaxial optical axis. The angle dependency of interference phenomena periodically from the optical and magneto-optical responses is attributed to the birefringence even in the absence of a magnetic field. The new type of observation finds that the transmission Faraday intensity in the oblique incidence includes a combination of polarization rotations, which results from optical compensation from the substrate and magneto-optical Faraday effects from the film. The samples grown at different rates and examined by this method exhibit magnetic structure discriminations. This result can be applied in the advanced polarized-light technologies to enhance the spatial resolution of magnetic surfaces with microstructural information under various magnetic field direction. © 2013 © 2013 Author(s).