Probing the transverse magneto-optical Kerr effect at the nanoscale

• Published in: Physica status solidi. A, Applications and materials science Vol. 204; no. 6; pp. 1956 - 1961
• Main Authors: Alvarez-Prado, L.-M., Souche, Y., Carminati, R.
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin WILEY-VCH Verlag 01.06.2007; WILEY‐VCH Verlag; Wiley-VCH; Wiley
• Subjects: 07.79.Fc; 75.60.Ch; 75.75.+a; 78.20.Ls; 78.67.−n; 81.07.Bc; Condensed Matter; Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Exact sciences and technology; Optical properties and condensed-matter spectroscopy and other interactions of matter with particles and radiation; Optical properties of low-dimensional, mesoscopic, and nanoscale materials and structures; Other; Physics; Thin films; Screening; Patterning; Bloch walls; Polarized radiation; Kerr magneto-optical effect; Bethe model; Reciprocity theorem; Near-field scanning optical microscopy; Nanostructures; Cobalt; Near-field optical microscopy; SNOM
• ISSN: 1862-6300; 1862-6319
• DOI: 10.1002/pssa.200675353

This article presents a theoretical formalism for a magneto‐optical scanning near‐field microscope (MO‐SNOM) in the transverse magneto‐optical Kerr effect configuration. Polarized light emitted by a nanosource is scattered by the magnetic object towards the detector. The nanosource is modelled as a circular aperture in an infinitely thin, perfectly conducting screen following the Bethe–Bouwkamp model. The theorem of reciprocity is used for calculating the detected signal in a constant‐height scanning mode for a Co thin film pattern. Two magnetic distributions are investigated: the single domain and the Bloch wall. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)