Spectral ellipsometry is a useful technique allowing fast, nondestructive, and contactless characterization of thin films and constituent materials. In this Letter, we show that both the linear magneto-optic Kerr effect (LinMOKE, proportional to the magnetization M) and the quadratic MOKE (QMOKE, proportional to ) can be a useful extension of spectral ellipsometry and are able to sense the crystallographic ordering of Heusler compounds. This is demonstrated for the Heusler compound Co2MnSi, which has a crystallographic transition from a B2 to an L21 structure with increasing annealing temperature Ta. We investigated a set of Co2MnSi thin films deposited on MgO(001) substrates and annealed from 300 to 500 °C. The amplitude of LinMOKE and QMOKE spectra, detected in the extended visible spectral range of 0.8–5.5 eV, scales linearly with Ta, and this effect is pronounced at the resonant peaks of the QMOKE spectra below 2.0 eV. Furthermore, the spectra of the magneto-optic (MO) parameters, which fully describe the MO response of Co2MnSi up to the second order in M, are obtained depending on Ta. Finally, the spectra are compared with ab initio calculations of a purely L21-ordered Co2MnSi Heusler compound.
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29 June 2020
Research Article|
June 29 2020
Scaling of quadratic and linear magneto-optic Kerr effect spectra with L21 ordering of Co2MnSi Heusler compound
Robin Silber
;
Robin Silber
a)
1
Nanotechnology Centre, VŠB-Technical University of Ostrava
, Ostrava 70800, Czech Republic
2
IT4Innovations, VŠB-Technical University of Ostrava
, Ostrava 70800, Czech Republic
3
Center for Spinelectronic Materials and Devices, Department of Physics, Bielefeld University
, Bielefeld 33615, Germany
a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: robin.silber@vsb.cz
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Daniel Král;
Daniel Král
4
Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University
, Prague 12116, Czech Republic
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Ondřej Stejskal
;
Ondřej Stejskal
2
IT4Innovations, VŠB-Technical University of Ostrava
, Ostrava 70800, Czech Republic
4
Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University
, Prague 12116, Czech Republic
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Takahide Kubota
;
Takahide Kubota
5
Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University
, Sendai 980-8576, Japan
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Yasuo Ando;
Yasuo Ando
6
Department of Applied Physics, Tohoku University
, Sendai 980-8576, Japan
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Jaromír Pištora;
Jaromír Pištora
1
Nanotechnology Centre, VŠB-Technical University of Ostrava
, Ostrava 70800, Czech Republic
2
IT4Innovations, VŠB-Technical University of Ostrava
, Ostrava 70800, Czech Republic
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Martin Veis
;
Martin Veis
4
Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University
, Prague 12116, Czech Republic
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Jaroslav Hamrle
;
Jaroslav Hamrle
4
Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University
, Prague 12116, Czech Republic
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Timo Kuschel
Timo Kuschel
3
Center for Spinelectronic Materials and Devices, Department of Physics, Bielefeld University
, Bielefeld 33615, Germany
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a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: robin.silber@vsb.cz
Appl. Phys. Lett. 116, 262401 (2020)
Article history
Received:
March 24 2020
Accepted:
June 13 2020
Citation
Robin Silber, Daniel Král, Ondřej Stejskal, Takahide Kubota, Yasuo Ando, Jaromír Pištora, Martin Veis, Jaroslav Hamrle, Timo Kuschel; Scaling of quadratic and linear magneto-optic Kerr effect spectra with L21 ordering of Co2MnSi Heusler compound. Appl. Phys. Lett. 29 June 2020; 116 (26): 262401. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0008427
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