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Magneto-optical imaging and analysis of magnetic domain microstructures
Molnár, Tomáš ; Wojewoda, Ondřej (oponent) ; Arregi Uribeetxebarria, Jon Ander (vedoucí práce)
Magneto-optical effects are associated with the interaction of polarized light with magnetized media. Although discovered nearly two centuries ago, magneto-optics is a widely utilized tool for magnetic characterization due to its high sensitivity and versatility. For example, it enables visualization of magnetic domain structures in microscale magnetic systems via wide-field magneto-optical microscopy. The majority of research on this topic has employed linear effects in magnetization to image domains in ferromagnetic materials, where one measures an optical contrast for regions with opposite magnetization orientations. It has been recently shown that even antiferromagnetic materials can be studied using quadratic magneto-optical effects (Voigt effect), making it possible to visualize regions with different spin axis orientations. In this work, we perform a fundamental magneto-optical microscopy study of magnetic thin film and microstructure systems using linear and quadratic effects. Consequently, the microscale magnetization configuration of continuous and patterned magnetic thin films is interpreted via the image processing strategy developed in this thesis, leading to quantitative vector magnetometry. Moreover, the coexistence of the ferro- and antiferromagnetic phase domains in FeRh films was investigated using optical and magneto-optical microscopy.
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Magneto-optical gradient effect imaging of magnetic textures
Molnár, Tomáš ; Hamrle, Jaroslav (oponent) ; Arregi Uribeetxebarria, Jon Ander (vedoucí práce)
Foundations of magneto-optics (MO), the field studying the influence of magnetic fields and magnetization on the propagation of light within matter, had been laid over a century and a half ago. Since then, MO has become one of the most widely used methods for magnetic imaging at the micro-scale. In addition to the MO Faraday and Kerr effects, which are linear in magnetization, effects quadratic in magnetization (Voigt or Cotton-Mouton effect) or dependent on magnetization-gradients (gradient effect) were later found. In particular, the MO gradient effect was the last to be discovered, but as it only decorated magnetic domain boundaries, it has not attracted so far the same interest as the Kerr effect for magnetic imaging. This work investigates the usefulness of the magneto-optical gradient effect to characterize nanoscale spin configurations, such as domain walls in perpendicularly magnetized materials. We present a novel experimental approach to reveal the properties of the MO gradient effect by exploiting its symmetries with respect to the polarization of light. Further, we analytically express the corresponding signal using an available theoretical model. By comparing simulated MO gradient effect signals obtained from the transfer matrix method and experimentally retrieved signals, we explore the possibility of characterizing the internal spin structure of nanoscale magnetic domain walls.
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Magneto-optical imaging and analysis of magnetic domain microstructures
Molnár, Tomáš ; Wojewoda, Ondřej (oponent) ; Arregi Uribeetxebarria, Jon Ander (vedoucí práce)
Magneto-optical effects are associated with the interaction of polarized light with magnetized media. Although discovered nearly two centuries ago, magneto-optics is a widely utilized tool for magnetic characterization due to its high sensitivity and versatility. For example, it enables visualization of magnetic domain structures in microscale magnetic systems via wide-field magneto-optical microscopy. The majority of research on this topic has employed linear effects in magnetization to image domains in ferromagnetic materials, where one measures an optical contrast for regions with opposite magnetization orientations. It has been recently shown that even antiferromagnetic materials can be studied using quadratic magneto-optical effects (Voigt effect), making it possible to visualize regions with different spin axis orientations. In this work, we perform a fundamental magneto-optical microscopy study of magnetic thin film and microstructure systems using linear and quadratic effects. Consequently, the microscale magnetization configuration of continuous and patterned magnetic thin films is interpreted via the image processing strategy developed in this thesis, leading to quantitative vector magnetometry. Moreover, the coexistence of the ferro- and antiferromagnetic phase domains in FeRh films was investigated using optical and magneto-optical microscopy.
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