Magneto-optical Kerr effect from layered systems when using elliptically polarized incident light

Abstract

Exploiting the dependence of Kerr spectra on the polarization state of incident light, it is shown that Kerr angles can be optimized by using elliptically polarized incident light. The proposed scheme is applied to fcc Ni(100) and fcc Co/Pt₃/Co/Pt(100). By making use of the complex optical conductivity tensor (calculated by means of the spin-polarized relativistic screened Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker method) and an appropriate 2×2 matrix formalism (to include all reflections and interferences) it is found, that the Kerr angle can be increased substantially even for very small deviations from perfect normal incidence or polar geometry. This increase pertains over the entire visible range of photon energies when using almost circularly polarized incident light. In the case of Ni(100) it is shown that depending on the photon energy even in using arbitrary linearly polarized incident light of azimuth different than ±45°, the Kerr angles can be improved by 5-60%.