Surface plasmon polaritons generated magneto–optical Kerr reversal in nanograting**Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 11374146), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant No. 2018M632278), and the Jiangsu Provincial Planned Projects for Postdoctoral Research Funds, China (Grant No. 1701092C).

Abstract

Controlling the phase of light in magnetoplasmonic structures is receiving increasing attention because of its already shown capability in ultrasensitive and label-free molecular-level detection. Magneto–optical Kerr reversal has been achieved and well explained in nanodisks by using the phase of localized plasmons. In this paper, we report that the Kerr reversal can also be produced by surface plasmon polaritons independently. We experimentally confirm this in Co and Ag/Co/Ag metal nanogratings, and can give a qualitative explanation that it is the charge accumulation at the interface between the grating surface and air that acts as the electromagnetic restoring force to contribute necessary additional phase for Kerr reversal. Our finding can enrich the means of designing and fabricating magneto–optical-based biochemical sensors.