Z. Phys.

B 104, 183184 (1997)

ZEITSCHRIFT PHYSIK B FUR

c Springer-Verlag 1997

Rapid note Faraday-rotation imaging by near-eld optical microscopy

Thilo Lacoste, Thomas Huser, Harry Heinzelmann
Institut f ur Physik, Universit at Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 82, CH-4056 Basel, Switzerland (e-mail: heinzelmann@ubaclu.unibas.ch) Received: 9 July 1997

Abstract. Scanning near-eld optical microscopy with polarization modulation (PM-SNOM) has been applied to image the surface of a yttrium-iron-garnet (YIG) lm. Lock-in detection of the phase of the transmitted light directly gives the magnitude of the Faraday rotation angle. PACS: 07.79.Fc; 61.16.Ch; 75.70.Kw; 78.20.Ls

The increasing performance of magnetic storage makes a good understanding of novel recording media necessary. Experimental methods to observe the domain structure of magnetic materials include decoration techniques [1], scanning electron microscopy with polarization analysis (SEMPA) [2], magnetic force microscopy (MFM) [3] and magneto-optics, dealing with the phenomenon that the polarization of light is changed when it interacts with magnetized matter. Scanning near-eld optical microscopy (SNOM) [4] uses a sub-wavelength light source which is raster-scanned across the sample. The spatial resolution is determined by the size of the aperture and its distance to the sample surface, rather than the probing wavelength. SNOM imaging of magnetic domains in reection (Kerr effect) is difcult [5] since multiple reections between sample surface and SNOM probe corrupt all polarization information. A more complicated approach is based on the detuning of the plasmon resonance of small silver particles in a magnetic eld [6, 7]. However, imaging of domains in Co/Pt multilayer thin lms [8] and in YIG lms [9, 10] in transmission (Faraday effect) is possible. In this contribution, we demonstrate that by modulating the linear input polarization state over 180 degrees and synchronous detection of the transmitted light, it is possible to directly image the distribution of Faraday rotation angle, and thus the magnetization. The setup of our polarization-modulation SNOM (Fig. 1), a home-built instrument placed on top of the sample stage of an inverted optical microscope, is described in detail elsewhere [11, 12]. The SNOM probe consists of a tapered and Al coated singlemode ber, which is controlled at approximately 5 nm above the surface by means of a shear-force

Fig. 1. Setup of the polarization-modulation SNOM

distance feedback-loop. For polarization-modulation experiments, care is taken to use only ber tips with high and homogeneous extinction ratios for arbitrary linear input polarization states. For polarization modulation, light from a He-Ne laser ( = 633 nm) with a polarization ratio of 500:1 is passed through an electro-optical modulator (driven by a 1 kHz sawtooth signal) and a quarterwave plate. These components main axes are mounted at 45 degrees and 0 degrees respectively to the input polarization. Thus only linear polarization states from 0 to 180 degrees are coupled into a singlemode ber. A ber-loop polarization controller has to be adjusted to compensate ber birefringence. After transmission through the sample the light is passed through an analyzer at arbitrary orientation onto a photomultiplier. The phase signal of a lock-in amplier analyzing the light intensity signal gives directly the Faraday rotation relative

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Fig. 2. 1515 m2 image of the natural domain structure of a YIG lm: a topography, b magnitude of Faraday rotation measured by phase modulation, c transmitted light intensity measured with xed linear polarization and varying analyzer settings

to some arbitrary zero. The phase resolution is about 0.1 degrees, limited by ber birefringence noise. Modulating the light impinging on the sample rather than after transmission through the sample offers more possibilities, since here all different polarization directions can interact with the sample. First demonstrated to detect sample birefringence [13], it also allows to measure simultaneously the magnitude and the orientation of optical anisotropies of absorbing materials [14, 12]. For applications such as the Faraday effect, which is isotropic in the plane of the sample surface, both schemes are equivalent. The sample for these studies is a 3.62 m thick YIG lm on a Gd3 Ga5 O12 substrate. The material is soft magnetic with a magnetization perpendicular to the surface. A 1515 m2 image of the domain structure is shown in Fig. 2. The shearforce signal (a) shows a at surface topography with some random contamination. The polarization modulation phase image (b) shows the domain structure of the YIG lm, with a Faraday rotation angle ranging over 2.3 degrees over the whole image, i.e. including both up and down domains. A cross-section through the domain structure shows a sine-type variation of the signal with a domain width at half maximum of 680 nm. This is contrary to our expectation of a signal varying only over the domain walls. There are two effects leading to a blurred signal. First, in this modulation setup we have to optimize the bers for their extinction ratios, rather than for small apertures. Larger apertures reduce resolution. Second, light diverging into the YIG lm (3.62 m thick) beyond the near-eld averages over multiple domains, thus leading to a signal background of long spatial wavelength. The measured signal corresponds to the Faraday rotation generated in the top several hundred nanometers, allowing to assess sample magnetization or Verdet constant of a thin surface layer with sub-wavelength resolution. Images with xed input polarization were taken for comparison (Fig. 2c). A change of contrast for different analyzer settings (rotation of +2 degrees in line A and 2 degrees in line B) is demonstrated on the same sample location. This behavior is similar to the contrast reversal observed in conventional polarization microscopy.

One advantage of the modulation experiment is that the Faraday rotation angle can be imaged directly, rather than by a series of experiments at different analyzer orientations. Furthermore, lock-in detection and the use of higher light intensities on the photodetector reduce noise substantially. Phase detection of the Faraday rotation angle appears to be less sensitive to features in topography. The intensity recording at xed polarization, however, clearly shows a response to these features (marked by white circles in Figs. 2a and c).
We would like to thank Hubert Br uckl from the Institute of Solid State and Materials Research in Dresden for providing the sample, and Hans Hug for helpful discussions. The work was nancially supported by the Swiss Priority Programs OPTIQUE, MINAST and the National Science Foundation program CHiral2.

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