Polarization characteristics and magneto-optic diffraction efficiency at oblique light incidence

Abstract

In a great number of papers that deal with the study of the magneto-optic diffraction (MOD), theoretical analysis and interpretation of experimental data are performed without regard for reflection effects of the incident and diffracted light beams on the entrance and exit surfaces of the transparent film. In consequence the MOD parameters are not connected with the angle of light incidence and the orientation of the incident light polarization plane. In the present work the reflection effects are taken into account. For the Raman-Nat diffraction region the general expressions involving the relationships of diffracted light polarization and intensity with the symmetry of the grating, angle of incidence and polarization of the incident light are obtained. In particular it is shown that even for a symmetrical grating the polarization of the zeroth-order diffracted beam differs from that of the incident light, and the polarization of higher-order beams differs from the orthogonal one providing that the incident light is not s- or p-polarized. A maximum in the angular dependence of diffraction efficiency is predicted being observed experimentally.