Magneto-Optical Kerr Effect MOKE

Fundamentals. The plane of polarization and the ellipticity of light of a fixed wavelength are changed upon reflection at the surface of a magnetic material ex- 

When applied in surface investigations, this effect is also called surface magneto-optical Kerr effect (SMOKE) [661]. 

The amount of change is directly proportional to the magnetization of the reflecting surface layer. The probing depth is about 10-20 nm, thus the method is not particularly surface sensitive [658-660]. If surface specificity is required, magnetization induced second harmonic generation might be useful applications of this method under in situ conditions in electrochemical studies have not been reported so far. 

This effect is related to the Cotton-Mouton effect of magnetic birefringence. 

The Kerr effect is observed upon reflection, whereas the Faraday effect is observed in transmission [as employed in optical components for ellipsometry (Sect. 5.9.5)]. The Kerr effect itself relates to the change of the refractive index of a medium exposed to an electric field. 

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The geometrical arrangement indicates the relationship to the magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE). MCDAD corresponds to the longitudinal, MLDAD to the transversal MOKE. Additionally, the Earaday effect can be included it is the analogue to the magnetic circular dichroism in absorption (XMCD). 

The magneto-optic Kerr effect (MOKE), discovered by John Kerr in 1877, is similar to the Faraday effect, except it rotates the plane of polarization of light reflected from a solid that contains a magnetic field. As such it is a valuable tool for visualizing magnetic domains. 

An increasingly important tool to determine the strain-induced anisotropy is MOKE (magneto-optical Kerr effect). In section 2 we mentioned already the calculations by Freeman et al. (1999). Experimentally, e.g. Ali and Watts (1999) (see also references therein) apply a bending device to induce strains in a controlled way, and determine the (local) curvature and the strains by optical interferometry or by direct measurement (stylus). The properties of the substrate are incorporated in a finite-element modelling calculation, thus allowing an absolute determination of the film properties. Compare also Stobiecki et al. (2000), who studied the strain induced anisotropy in FeB/Cu/FeB trilayers, using Kerr magnetometry (MOKE). 

MOKE magneto-optical Kerr effect photoemission spectroscopy... 

SH-MOKE Second harmonic magneto-optic Kerr effect... 

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