The conductivity tensors of single crystals and polycrystals of RFe2 (R=Gd,Tb,Ho,Lu) and GdCo2 were determined in the visible and near UV ranges. The magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) was studied at different temperatures and magnetic fields. The single-crystal data show more features and larger magnitudes in the MOKE spectrum than the polycrystalline data under the same experimental condition...

Recent in situ polarized neutron-reflectometry and magneto-optical Kerr effect measurements have displayed a few magnetically dead Fe layers deposited on V~110!. We have performed ab initio density-functional theory calculations in order to explain the a priori unexpected results. An ideal layer-by-layer growth of Fe on the V~110! surface leads to the ferromagnetic solution for every Fe thickne...

The magneto-optical Kerr rotation (0,) spectra and the related properties have been measured in ordered and disordered phases of several kinds of Fe-R alloy films. The / 0, 1 in as-deposited (disordered) films becomes gradually larger with increasing Fe content until about SO at% Fe, but the shape of 0 k spectra does not change so much. After annealing, however, all the 0, spectra were changed....

We use time-resolved x-ray diffraction and magneto-optical Kerr effect to study the laser-induced antiferromagnetic to ferromagnetic phase transition in FeRh. The structural response is given by the nucleation of independent ferromagnetic domains (τ(1)~30 ps). This is significantly faster than the magnetic response (τ(2)~60 ps) given by the subsequent domain realignment. X-ray diffraction shows...

We report the experimental finding that magnetization reversal of ferromagnetic thin films exhibits a spatially nonuniform dependence on the strength of a reversing applied field on a submicrometer scale. Field dependence of local magnetization switching time was determined from the local magnetization viscosity curves triggered by various strengths of a reversing applied field, respectively on...

Co/wedged Mn/Co sandwiches were grown on GaAs~001! at room temperature. With the magneto-optical Kerr effect technique, magnetic hysteresis loops at different Mn thicknesses (0<d<4 nm) were measured and the negative remanence phenomenon was clearly observed when the magnetic interlayer coupling between the two Co layers was antiferromagnetic. The mechanism can be understood with the help of a w...

Nanostructured Fe dots were prepared on antiferromagnetic FeF2 thin films and investigated by magneto-optical Kerr effect sMOKEd. We studied the influence of dot sizes on the magnetic hysteresis and compared the result with both continuous thin film bilayers and nanostructured Fe/FeF2 pillars. Hysteresis loops were measured at temperatures below and above s10 and 90 K, respectivelyd the Néel te...

We predict theoretically and demonstrate experimentally an ellipticity-dependent nonlinear magneto-optic rotation of elliptically polarized light propagating in a medium with atomic coherence. We show that this effect results from hexadecapole and higher-order moments of the atomic coherence, and is associated with an enhancement of Kerr and higher-order nonlinearities accompanied by suppressio...

The zero-point quantum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field in vacuum are known to give rise to a long-range attractive force between metal plates (Casimir effect). For ferromagnetic layers separated by vacuum, it is shown that the interplay of the Casimir effect and of the magneto-optical Kerr effect gives rise to a long-range magnetic interaction. The Casimir magnetic force is found to d...

Investigations of geometric frustrations in magnetic antidot lattices have led to the observation of interesting phenomena like spin-ice and magnetic monopoles. By using highly focused magneto-optical Kerr effect measurements and x-ray microscopy with magnetic contrast we deduce that geometrical frustration in these nanostructured thin film systems also leads to an out-of-plane magnetization fr...