Abstract
Magnetic and spintronic media have offered fundamental scientific subjects and technological applications. Magneto-optic Kerr effect (MOKE) microscopy provides the most accessible platform to study the dynamics of spins, magnetic quasi-particles, and domain walls. However, in the research of nanoscale spin textures and state-of-the-art spintronic devices, optical techniques are generally restricted by the extremely weak magneto-optical activity and diffraction limit. Highly sophisticated, expensive electron microscopy and scanning probe methods thus have come to the forefront. Here, we show that extreme anti-reflection (EAR) dramatically improves the performance and functionality of MOKE microscopy. For 1-nm-thin Co film, we demonstrate a Kerr amplitude as large as 20° and magnetic domain imaging visibility of 0.47. Especially, EAR-enhanced MOKE microscopy enables real-time detection and statistical analysis of sub-wavelength magnetic domain reversals. Furthermore, we exploit enhanced magneto-optic birefringence and demonstrate analyser-free MOKE microscopy. The EAR technique is promising for optical investigations and applications of nanomagnetic systems.
Highlights
Magnetic and spintronic media have offered fundamental scientific subjects and technological applications
We present extreme antireflection (EAR) based on an optical thin-film structure that breaks through the limits of conventional Magneto-optic Kerr effect (MOKE) microscopy
We have demonstrated real-time measurement and statistical analysis of magnetic domain reversal beyond the optical diffraction limit and verified the power-law scalability of the Barkhausen jumps depending on domain size down to 10nm scale
Summary
Magnetic and spintronic media have offered fundamental scientific subjects and technological applications. In the research of nanoscale spin textures and state-of-the-art spintronic devices, optical techniques are generally restricted by the extremely weak magneto-optical activity and diffraction limit. Ordinary AR in the order of a few percent is still insufficient to implement high-visibility MOKE microscopy and high-precision characterisation of nanoscale magnetic domains and textures beyond the limits of conventional optics. Such advanced applications require demonstration of extreme anti-reflection (EAR) of
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