Interference enhanced Kerr spectroscopy for very thin absorbing films

Abstract

A new method of obtaining polar Kerr spectra from very thin highly absorbing films (α≳104 cm−1) is described. The technique which is termed interference enhanced Kerr spectroscopy is shown theoretically to produce a gain in the Kerr intensity of 10–103 (depending on the optical constants of the material) over that expected from a thick sample. The potential of the method is demonstrated theoretically using MnBi data and experimentally using an amorphous Tb-Fe alloy. The use of this interference technique for studies of other mode conversion phenomena is also mentioned.