Tuning the magnetic properties of permalloy-based magnetoplasmonic crystals for sensor applications

Abstract

Miniature magnetic sensors based on magnetoplasmonic crystals (MPlCs) exhibit high sensitivity and high spatial resolution, which can be obtained by the excitation of surface plasmon polaritons. A field dependence of surface plasmon polaritons' enhanced magneto-optical response strongly correlates with magnetic properties of MPlCs that can be tuned by changing spatial parameters, such as the period and height of diffraction gratings and thicknesses of functional layers. This work compares the magnetic properties of MPlCs based on Ni80Fe20 (permalloy) obtained from local (longitudinal magneto-optical Kerr effect) and bulk (vibrating-sample magnetometry) measurements and demonstrates an ability to control sensors' performance through changing the magnetic properties of the MPlCs. The influence of the substrate's geometry (planar or sinusoidal and trapezoidal diffraction grating profiles) and the thickness of the surface layer is examined.