MODULATORS :: APPLICATIONS :: Magneto-Optical Kerr Effect (MOKE) 

MOKE experiments are designed to detect small changes in polarization that occur because electrical fields influence the polarization state of optical radiation as it passes through a transparant medium.  

PEM Setting:  quarter-wave retardation (/4)
Polarization Modulation:  right and left circular polarized light
Lock-in reference:  PEM's 1st Harmonic

The modulated light is then reflected by the sample, which is situated in the center of the electromagnet poles.  Setting the analyzer angle to 0° greatly simplifies the mathematical relationship between the intensity ratios measured and the magneto-optical parameters.  The following equation determines the intensity.

RESOURCES

PEM Newsletter #10:  Magnetism in a New Light      MOKE Application Note

where I₀ is related to the intensity of the source and is the phase of the PEM.  _k is the complex Kerr rotation and e_k is the Kerr elipticity.

APPLICATIONS
Data Storage
Disk Recording Systems
Dynamic Studies of Film Growth

TYPICAL HEAD ASSEMBLIES
I/FS50with ARC
Magnetic Field Compatibility Option (MFC)

ADDITIONAL TOOLS
MOKE Complete Solution Packages

FURTHER READING
R. Atkinson, G. Didrichsen,W.R. Hendren, I.W. Salter and R.J. Pollard, Phys.Rev. B, 62, 18, 12 294-12 302 (2000).

R. Atkinson, J. Phys.: Condens. Matter. 12, 7735-7745 (2000).
 
Bennemann K.H., (Ed), Nonlinear Optics in Metals, Clarendon Press, Oxford, (1998).
 
R. Atkinson, G. Didrichsen,W.R. Hendren, I.W. Salter and R.J. Pollard, J. Phys.:
Condens. Matter. 13, 691-705 (2001).