Inverse Faraday effect in plasmonic heterostructures

Abstract

The phenomenon of the surface plasmon assisted electromagnetic field concentration in the vicinity of the metal/dielectric interface of a periodically perforated with subwavelength holes arrays plasmonic structure is considered. An increase of the local stationary magnetic field appearing due to the inverse Faraday effect while the heterostructure is illuminated by circularly polarized light is demonstrated. The stationary magnetic field induced is more than an order of magnitude larger than the one for a uniform non-plasmonic film which implies a possibility for local control of the magnetization. © 2010 IOP Publishing Ltd.