Magneto-optic effect

A change in light’s polarization, propagation, or intensity caused by a magnetic field or a material’s magnetization. It arises from magnetically altered optical properties and includes rotation, ellipticity, and magnetic circular dichroism.

Faraday effect: The rotation of a light wave’s polarization as it travels through a material under a magnetic field parallel to its direction. It is the magneto-optic effect in transmission, with rotation accumulating along the optical path.
Kerr microscopy: An imaging technique that maps magnetization by measuring magneto-optic changes in reflected light. It turns the Kerr effect into spatially resolved views of magnetic domains.
Polarization: The orientation and evolution of the electric-field oscillations in an electromagnetic wave. Most magneto-optic measurements detect changes in polarization state.
Longitudinal Kerr effect: A magneto-optic Kerr geometry in which magnetization lies in the sample plane and parallel to the plane of incidence. It isolates the reflected-light response to an in-plane magnetization component.
Michael Faraday: An English scientist whose experimental work established foundational links among electricity, magnetism, and light. His 1845 observation of magnetic rotation of polarized light began the field.
Magnetic circular birefringence: A difference in refractive index for left- and right-circularly polarized light induced by magnetization. Its unequal phase velocities turn linearly polarized light into a rotated or elliptical state.
Magnetic domain: A region in a magnetic material where magnetic moments share a common orientation. Domain boundaries and orientations produce contrast in magneto-optic images.
Refractive index: A dimensionless measure of how light’s phase velocity in a medium differs from its vacuum speed. Magnetization can make the index depend on polarization and propagation direction.
Polar Kerr effect: A magneto-optic Kerr geometry with magnetization perpendicular to the sample surface. Its strong sensitivity to out-of-plane magnetization makes it useful for domain imaging.
Faraday rotation: The rotation of a linearly polarized light wave’s plane of polarization during propagation through a magnetized medium. This phenomenon was the first experimentally observed magneto-optic effect.

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