Giant magneto-optical Faraday effect of nanometer Fe-ln2O3 granular films

• Published in: Chinese science bulletin Vol. 53; no. 8; pp. 1133 - 1137
• Main Author: ZHANG Lin ZHANG LianSheng XIAO ShuQin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2008
• Subjects: 法拉第效应; 粒状薄膜
• ISSN: 1001-6538; 1861-9541

The giant magneto-optical Faraday effect of nanometer ferromagnetic metal-semiconductor matrix Fe-ln2O3 granular films prepared by the radio frequency sputtering are studied. The result shows that the Faraday rotation angle θF value of the granular film samples with Fe volume fraction x = 35% is of the order of 10^5（°）/cm at room temperature. Temperature dependence of the Faraday rotation angle θF of Fe0.35（In2O3）0.65 granular films shows that θF value below 10 K increases rapidly with the decrease of the temperature, and when T= 4.2 K, θF value is 106（°）/cm. Through the study of the dependence of low field susceptibility on temperature and the hysteresis loops at different temperatures, it has been found that when the temperature decreases to a critical point Tp = 10 K, the transformation of state from ferro-agnetic to spin-glass-like occurs in Fe0.35（In2O3）0.65 granular films. The remarkable increase of the Faraday rotation angle θF value of Fe0.35（In2O3）0.65 granular films below 10 K seems to arise from the sp-d exchange interaction of the granular film samples in the spin-glass-like state.