Aperture-ratio dependence of the efficiency of magneto-optical first-order diffraction in GdFe stripe arrays with alternating perpendicular magnetization

The efficiency of magneto-optical (MO) diffraction in GdFe stripe arrays with alternating directions of perpendicular magnetization is investigated. The diffraction efficiency depends on the aperture ratio, as theoretically analyzed for an array composed of magnetic and nonmagnetic materials, with the magnetization directions parallel or antiparallel. The stripe patterns are composed of two ferromagnetic alloys of different compositions, Gd19.7Fe80.3 and Gd23.4Fe76.6 (denoted GF1 and GF2), having different coercivities in the parallel and antiparallel configurations. The stripe patterns are separated by nonmagnetic SiO2 stripes of different widths to obtain aperture ratios of 100, 75, 50 and 25%. The magnetization distributions in the samples is confirmed by MO microscopy. The diffraction efficiencies at a wavelength of 532 nm are measured to be 1.27×10-6, 1.04×10-6, 6.2×10-7 and 2.0×10-7 for aperture ratios of 100, 75, 50, and 25%, respectively. Those values are in accord with calculations using the measured MO and optical parameters of the GF1 layer, including the Kerr rotation angle of 0.12°, the Kerr ellipticity of −0.1° and the reflectance of 0.37.