Magneto-optic studies of magnetic oxides

A brief review of the use of magneto-optic methods to study magnetic oxides is given. A simple method to obtain the magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) of a thin film on a transparent substrate is described. The method takes full account of multiple reflections in the film and substrate. Examples of the magneto-optic spectra of Co-doped ZnO, Fe3O4, and GdMnO3 are given. The Maxwell–Garnett method is used to describe the effects of metallic cobalt inclusions in Co:ZnO samples, and the change of the MCD spectra of Fe3O4 at the Verwey temperature is discussed. Data showing different MCD signals at different energies is presented for GdMnO3.