Measurement and interpretation of magnetic circular dichroism and magnetic linear dichroism spectra

Abstract

This paper deals with three problems of a different nature. We first discuss the conditions required to obtain reliable and usable magneto-optical and absorption data at any temperature down to that of liquid helium; this discussion includes the description of our cryostat and absorption device, as well as a critical study of the optimization of the signal-to-noise ratio of the instruments. Secondly, a new fitting procedure is proposed for the analysis of absorption and magnetic circular dichroism curves and the extraction of useful parameters. Finally, the significance of these parameters is examined for anisotropic centres isolated in an isotropic matrix; the results thus obtained are illustrated by means of magneto-optical experiments on CaF₂+Nd³⁺ crystals.