Growth of nanosized MnAs/Si(111) magnetoelectronic heterostructures and their magnetooptical study

Thin (6–12 nm) epitaxial MnAs films were MBE-grown on Si(111) substrates under different technological conditions. The films feature essentially different surface morphology. This manifests itself in the formation, on the silicon surface, of hexagonal-shaped crystallites, whose dimensions vary depending on the growth conditions. The volume and surface magnetic properties of the films were studied using the magnetooptical Kerr effect and optical second harmonic generation. The Kerr effect was found to scale linearly with the effective thickness of the magnetic layer. The thickness of the magnetically disordered transition layer formed near the interface with the substrate was estimated. The surface and volume hysteresis properties of the films were found to be different. A contribution to the second-harmonic intensity was observed which is an odd function of magnetization. This effect originates from the interference of the magnetic and nonmagnetic contributions to the nonlinear polarization.     

Generation of second optical harmonic and magnetooptical Kerr effect in ferromagnet-semiconductor heterostructures CaF2/MnAs/Si(111)

The second optical harmonic generation and magnetooptical Kerr effect are investigated for the light (λ=800 nm) reflected by ferromagnet-semiconductor heterostructures CaF₂/MnAs/Si(111). The observed change in the second-harmonic intensity is odd in magnetization. A phenomenological analysis of possible contributions to the second harmonic is carried out, and the sources of optically nonlinear signals are determined from the experimental azimuthal dependences of the light intensity at double frequency. The difference in the field dependences of the second harmonic and the magnetooptical Kerr effect is observed.     

Magnetization-induced third-harmonic generation in nanostructures and thin films

This paper reports on the results of research into low-dimensional magnetic structures that have been intensively studied over previous decades due to the discovery of novel effects that are exhibited by these structures but not observed in bulk magnetic materials. A nonlinear optical analog of the magnetooptical Kerr effect is revealed in the optical third-harmonic generation in thin magnetic metallic films and nanogranular structures. It is shown that the magnetic nonlinear optical Kerr effect observed in the third harmonic exceeds the magnetooptical analog by more than one order of magnitude.     

Magnetic-Field-Induced Optical Second-Harmonic Generation Study of Co/Pt and Co/Ta Interfaces

Magnetic properties of an interface between cobalt and platinum or tantalum nanolayers have been studied by the optical second-harmonic generation and nonlinear magneto-optical Kerr effect methods. It has been shown that a high sensitivity of the second-harmonic generation method makes it possible to determine the orientation of the easy magnetization axis in the plane of a polycrystalline structure without measurement of the magnetic field dependence of second-harmonic generation. The comparison of the field dependences of magnetic-field-induced second-harmonic generation with the linear magneto-optical effect indicates the difference in the processes of magnetization reversal in Co/Pt and Co/Ta interfaces and the bulk of the cobalt film. In particular, a new linear in magnetization effect has been observed in the second harmonic that is symmetry-forbidden for uniformly magnetized structures.     

Magnetic and magnetooptical properties of Fe/Pt and Fe/Pt/Fe thin-film magnetic structures

Results of a study of magnetic and magnetooptical properties of Fe/Pt double-layer and Fe/Pt/Fe three-layer thin-film magnetic structures are presented. A strong effect of the Pt layer on magnetic properties of the studied samples was revealed. It was established that the saturation field of three-layer magnetic structures has an oscillating magnitude with varying Pt layer thickness, and the oscillation period is a function of the Fe layer thickness. The data obtained are explained by the presence of exchange interaction between the Fe layers via the Pt layer. A strong effect of Pt on spectral dependences of the equatorial Kerr effect in the thin-film structures under study is revealed.     

Coherent spin dynamics of carriers in ferromagnetic semiconductor heterostructures with an Mn δ layer

The coherent spin dynamics of carriers in the heterostructures that contain an InGaAs/GaAs quantum well (QW) and an Mn δ layer, which are separated by a narrow GaAs spacer 2–10 nm thick, is comprehensively studied by the magnetooptical Kerr effect method at a picosecond time resolution. The exchange interaction of photoexcited electrons in QW with the ferromagnetic Mn δ layer manifests itself in magnetic-field and temperature dependences of the Larmor precession frequency of electron spins and is found to be very weak (several microelectron volts). Two nonoscillating components related to holes exist apart from an electron contribution to the Kerr signal of polarization plane rotation. At the initial stage, a fast relaxation process, which corresponds to the spin relaxation of free photoexcited holes, is detected in the structures with a wide spacer. The second component is caused by the further spin dephasing of energyrelaxed holes, which are localized at strong QW potential fluctuations in the structures under study. The decay of all contributions to the Kerr signal in time increases substantially when the spacer thickness decreases, which correlates with the enhancement of nonradiative recombination in QW.     

Anisotropy of magnetooptical response of nanoperforated permalloy films

The azimuthal anisotropy of the linear and nonlinear magnetooptical Kerr effect has been studied for a structure that is an ordered array with 420-nm-diameter pores in a 30-nm-thick permalloy film on a silicon substrate. The azimuthal anisotropy of the magnetooptical Kerr effect and the coercive force, corresponding to 4 m symmetry of a planar nanopore array, has been established experimentally. The measurements are accompanied with the numerical calculation of the anisotropic magnetization distribution in the structure at different orientations of the applied magnetic field.     

Magnetic and magnetooptical properties of multilayer ferromagnet-semiconductor nanostructures

The magnetic and magnetooptical properties of spin-tunneling multilayer permalloy-silicon carbide nanoheterostructures deposited by rf sputtering have been studied. Magnetometric and magnetooptical methods are used to show that the magnetic-semiconducting nanostructures have a complex magnetic structure and to track the evolution of the magnetic properties of these structures as functions of the magnetizing field and the thickness and sequence order of ferromagnetic and semiconducting layers in them. The induction response and the field and orientation dependences of the transversal Kerr effect are found to have anomalies. The experimental results are interpreted under the assumption that there is exchange interaction between the ferromagnetic and semiconducting layers through a thin magnetically ordered transition layer formed inside the interface.     

Nonlinear optical parameters and optical limitation in cobalt-doped polyvinylpyrrolidone solutions

Nonlinear optical parameters (nonlinear refractive indices and nonlinear absorption coefficients) of solutions of polyvinylpyrrolidone doped by cobalt to various concentrations are measured at the lasing and second-harmonic wavelengths of a picosecond Nd:YAG laser (λ=1064 and 532 nm, respectively, and τ=35 ps). Data on optical limitation in these solutions are presented. The absence of nonlinear absorption in the IR spectral range and its significant effect in the visible range are demonstrated. Optical limitation at a wavelength of 1064 nm is related to defocusing, whereas at 532 nm, this effect is caused by two-photon absorption and partially by inverse saturated absorption and defocusing. Nonlinear optical parameters of metal-polymer complexes are reported.     

Formation of clusters and the magnetooptical Kerr effect in gallium arsenide implanted with manganese ions

The surface morphology and magnetic properties of GaAs irradiated by manganese ions are studied at room temperature using atomic-force microscopy and the magnetooptical Kerr effect. It is shown that ferromagnetism takes place in the surface layer of the irradiated semiconductor subjected to annealing at 715–750°C. The magnetic properties of this layer are related to the evolution of submicron clusters in GaAs doped with Mn.     

Optical and magneto-optical properties of MBE grown Co/Au multilayers

The optical and magneto-optical properties of Co/Au multilayers, grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), have been examined in the wavelength range 300 to 900 nm using ellipsometry and normal incidence Kerr polarimetry. The dispersion of fundamental optical and magneto-optical constants and the complex Kerr rotation are discussed in terms of the interaction of electromagnetic radiation with a multilayered structure. This is done on the basis of a single equivalent layer approach for dealing with multilayered media using values for the optical constants of cobalt and gold measured on single films of these materials grown by MBE. It is suggested that a restriction of the mean free path of the conduction electrons in the gold layers, of the order of the individual sub-layer thickness, accounts for some aspects of the observed optical spectra.     

Magnetooptical,optical, and magnetotransport properties of Co/Cu superlattices with ultrathin cobalt layers

We investigated the field dependences of the magnetization and magnetoresistance of superlattices [Co(t _x, Å)/Cu(9.6 Å)]30 prepared by magnetron sputtering, differing in the thickness of cobalt layers (0.3 Å ≤ t _Co ≤ 15 Å). The optical and magnetooptical properties of these objects were studied by ellipsometry in the spectral region of hω= 0.09–6.2 eV and with the help of the transverse Kerr effect (hω= 0.5–6.2 eV). In the curves of an off-diagonal component of the tensor of the optical conductivity of superlattices with t _Co = 3–15 Å, a structure of oscillatory type (“loop”) was detected in the ultraviolet region, resulting from the exchange splitting of the 3d band in the energy spectrum of the face-centered cubic structure of cobalt (fcc Co). Based on magnetic experiments and measurements of the transverse Kerr effect, we found the presence of a superparamagnetic phase in Co/Cu superlattices with a thickness of the cobalt layers of 3 and 2 Å. The transition from superlattices with solid ferromagnetic layers to superparamagnetic cluster-layered nanostructures and further to the structures based on Co and Cu (t _Co = 0.3–1 Å) with a Kondo-like characteristics of the electrical resistivity at low temperatures is analyzed.     

New possibilities for tuning ultrathin cobalt film magnetic properties by a noble metal overlayer

Complementary multiscale magneto-optical studies based on the polar Kerr effect are carried out on an ultrathin cobalt wedge covered with a silver wedge and subsequently with the Au thick layer. A few monolayers of Ag are found to have a substantial effect on magnetic anisotropy, the coercivity field, and Kerr rotation. The silver overlayer thickness-driven magnetic reorientation from easy axis to easy plane generates a new type of 90 degrees magnetic wall for cobalt thicknesses between 1.3 and 1.8 nm. The tuning of the wall width in a wide range is possible. Tailoring of the overlayer structure can be used for ultrathin film magnetic patterning.     

Nonlinear intensity-related magneto-optical Kerr effects in the planar geometry

The reflection of an electromagnetic wave at the second-harmonic frequency from a semi-infinite optically isotropic magnetic medium for the directions of uniform magnetization corresponding to the meridional and equatorial Kerr effects is considered. Using the Green’s tensor function technique, in the first approximation in magnetization, the expressions for complex amplitudes of the field are obtained for the s and p polarizations of the incident beam and their superpositions. It is shown that in the latter case, the meridional effect becomes intensity-related. Dependences of the intensity-related meridional and equatorial Kerr effects on the angle characterizing polarization of the pump wave are obtained by numerical calculations. A comparative analysis of the linear and nonlinear Kerr effects is made.     

Second order nonlinear spectroscopy of nickel nanorods

The results of optical second harmonic generation (SHG) spectroscopy in an ensemble of nickel nanorods are presented. Enhancement of the magnetic nonlinear optical Kerr effect at the fundamental wavelength (750–780 nm) is observed. The effect is attributed to resonance excitation of localized surface plasmons in nickel nanorods.     

Field distribution of a light wave near a magnetic defect in one-dimensional photonic crystals

The field distribution of a light wave near a magnetic defect in a one-dimensional photonic crystal is analyzed. It is shown that, by properly varying the magnetic defect thickness or the parameters of the photonic crystal surrounding the defect, one can create a situation where the electric field of a light wave will be localized predominantly inside the magnetic layer or, conversely, in the immediate vicinity of the layer surface. This opens up possibilities for optimizing the Q factor of a magnetic microcavity in the presence of dissipation in the magnetic layer and, hence, for enhancing the linear and nonlinear magneto-optical effects. The possibility of separating the contributions from the surface and volume of the magnetic material to the nonlinear magnetooptical properties by properly varying the field distribution over the defect thickness is discussed.     

Photon pressure and magnetic moment transfer in multilayered nanosize films

The effect of nanosecond laser pulses with λ = 355 nm on the Kerr and Faraday angles in nanosize layered magnetic films Al₂O₃/TbFe/Al₂O₃/TbFe/Al₂O₃ and Al₂O₃/TbFe/Au/TbFe/Al₂O₃ is studied experimentally. The first ferrimagnetic TbFe layer in these films with transverse anisotropy is enriched by terbium, while the second Tb₂₂Fe₇₈ layer is enriched by iron relative to the composition at the compensation point. When the ferrimagnetic TbFe layers in the film are magnetized in the same direction, the magnetooptical characteristics of each TbFe layers and of the film as a whole depend on the laser radiation power, which is in good agreement with the temperature characteristics. When the TbFe layers are magnetized in opposite directions for a high power of nanosecond pulses, the values of the Faraday and Kerr angles for the output TbFe layer sharply change and even reverse their signs. These results are explained by the effect of electrons with a high spin polarization, which are injected by radiation due to the photon pressure. In the case of antiparallel magnetizations of the TbFe layers, a high concentration of such electrons not only changes the local magnetization of the output layer, but also causes its magnetization reversal due to magnetic moment transfer by such electrons.     

Three-dimensional second-harmonic generation imaging with femtosecond laser pulses

A three-dimensional reflectance scanning optical microscope based on the nonlinear optical phenomenon of second-harmonic generation is presented. A mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser producing <90-fs pulses at ~790nm was used, and the images were constructed by scanning of an object, which possessed local second-order nonlinearity, relative to a focused spot from the laser. The second-harmonic light at ~395nm generated by the specimen was separated from the fundamental beam by use of dichroic and interference filters and was detected by a photodiode. The technique was then used to characterize the distribution of second-order nonlinearity and microstructure of the nonlinear material lithium triborate.     

Magnetooptische und optische Eigenschaften von ferromagnetischen Schichten im Ultraroten

The rotation of the plane of polarisation and the ellipticity of the reflected light at both sides and the transmitted light through magnetically saturated evaporated layers (30 mμ) of iron, cobalt and nickel are measured in the near I.R. and the visible spectrum (2·5 to 0·43 μ). The four measured magnetooptical angles are dependent one another according to the theory ofVoigt. They are found independent however each other. That can be explaned only by a magnetooptical term in the second equation of Maxwell too, if the layers are homogenous. This term is calculated and gives rise to a considerable portion of the magnetooptical effects. The transmitted light gains a rotation and ellipticity not only in the interior of the metal but also on the surfaces. This surface-change surpasses that in the interior in the I.R. region. It can be determined by extrapolating on the thickness zero or by calculating out of the measured Kerr-effect. Both methods agree well. This is a convincing prove that non-magnetical surface-layers are there not existing. The magnetooptical rotation of Nickel has a sharp peak at 1 μ, the other magnetooptical constants, include the calculated magnetical terms show a more monotonous course with the wavelenght, also for the other metals. The optical constants are determined by measurements of intensity of the reflected light on both sides of the layer and of the transmitted light.     

The Kerr and Faraday effects in Co-P films prepared by chemical deposition

The results from experimental studies of the magnetooptical Kerr and Faraday effects in Co-P films are described. It is shown that the angle of rotation of the polarization of light in the polar Kerr effect is a nonmonotonic function of film thickness. Maximum changes in the angle of rotation are observed in the wavelength region of incident radiation for thicknesses comparable to the skin layer. A qualitative model in which the observed effects are attributed to the multilayer structure of the samples under study is described.