Ab initio magneto-optical properties of bcc Ni/Ni(100)

Abstract

The inter- and intralayer contributions to the layer-resolved complex optical conductivity tensor for semiinfinite layered systems are calculated in terms of the Luttinger formula within the spin-polarized relativistic screened Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker method. Ab initio Kerr angles are then obtained for arbitrary geometry and incidence via a 2 2 matrix technique including all multiple reflections and all optical interferences. Applied to in-plane single-domain magnetized bcc Ni/Ni 100 , it is proven that the assumed appropriate formula of Kerr angles widely used to explain magneto-optical Kerr effect with rotating magnetic field measurements fully agrees with our ab initio Kerr data. From the experimental Kerr data of Tian et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 137210 2005 , however, it cannot be concluded that the deduced magnetic properties apply for bulk Ni, since about 75% of the contributions to the Kerr rotation angle arise from the surface.\