Magnetization reversal process of ferromagnetic granular thin films probed by magnetization-induced second harmonic generation

Abstract

We propose to use magnetization-induced second harmonic generation (MSHG) technique to explore the magnetization reversal process of cobalt granular thin films. The three-dimensional magnetization reversal process can be visualized by analyzing the polarization dependent MSHG hysteresis curves. It is found that the magnetization reversal process involves not only the in-plane but also the out-plane magnetization rotation because of the uniaxial anisotropy of cobalt granular thin films. This study demonstrates that MSHG can be a versatile optical technique to investigate the magnetic property of not only ferromagnetic epitaxial thin films but also ferromagnetic granular thin films.