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Ab initio investigation of microscopic enhancement factors in tuning the magneto-optical Kerr effect

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Zeitschrift für Physik B Condensed Matter

Abstract

The microscopic quantities that determine the magnitude and frequency position of peaks in the Kerr rotation spectrum are studied on the basis of first-principles band-structure theory. The transition metals Fe, Co and Ni serve as model systems. The magnitude of the magnetooptical Kerr effec (MOKE) is basically brought about by the spin-orbit (SO) coupling strength and it is shown that the Kerr rotation scales linearly with the SO-coupling. Exchange splitting (or magnetization) is found to influence the Kerr effect in a rather complicated way: enlarging the magnetization can both enhance and diminish spectral peaks. A strong effect is found for the dependence of the position of spectral peaks on the lattice spacing: a 3 to 6% increase in lattice parameters can lead to shifts of about 1 eV of the main MOKE peak.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Festkörperphysik, Technische Hochschule, Hochschulstrasse 6, W-6100, Darmstadt, Germany

    P. M. Oppeneer, J. Sticht, T. Maurer & J. Kübler

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  1. P. M. Oppeneer
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  2. J. Sticht
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  3. T. Maurer
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  4. J. Kübler
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Oppeneer, P.M., Sticht, J., Maurer, T. et al. Ab initio investigation of microscopic enhancement factors in tuning the magneto-optical Kerr effect. Z. Physik B - Condensed Matter 88, 309–315 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01470918

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01470918

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