The inverse Faraday effect is a magneto-optical process allowing the magnetization of matter by an optical excitation carrying a non-zero spin or orbital moment of light. This phenomenon was considered until now as symmetric; right or left circular polarizations generate magnetic fields oriented in the direction of light propagation or in the counter-propagating direction. Here, we demonstrate that by manipulating the spin density of light in a plasmonic nanostructure, we generate a chiral inverse Faraday effect, creating a strong magnetic field of 500 mT only for one helicity of the light, the opposite helicity producing this effect only for the mirror structure. This new optical concept opens the way to the generation of magnetic fields with unpolarized light, finding application in the ultrafast manipulation of magnetic domains and processes, such as spin precession, spin currents and waves, magnetic skyrmion or magnetic circular dichroism, with direct applications in data storage and data processing technologies.
Enhancement of magneto-optical effects in hybrid magneto-plasmonic systems has attracted considerable recent attention owing to their potential for building non-reciprocal nanophotonic devices. Quantitative understanding on the fundamental origin and contributing mechanisms for the enhancement is extremely crucial for optimizing applications. Here, we unravel the distinctly different physical origin of the giant enhancement of Faraday rotation and ellipticity in a hybrid magneto-plasmonic system, namely, waveguided magneto-plasmonic crystal for excitation with transverse electric (TE) and tran…
Circularly polarized electromagnetic wave impinging on a conducting ring generates a circulating DC plasmonic current resulting in an Inverse Faraday Effect in nanorings. We show that a large ring with periodically modulated width on a nanoscale, smaller or comparable with the plasmonic mean free path, supports plasmon energy bands. When a circularly polarized radiation impinges on such a plasmonic ring, it produces resonant DC plasmonic current on a macro scale resulting in a Giant Inverse Faraday Effect. The metamaterials comprised of the concentric variable width rings (plasmonic disks) and…
The magneto-optical Faraday effect in the magnetoplasmonic nanostructures with nonuniform, periodically modulated spatial distribution of the magnetization is considered. It is shown that in such nanostructures the Faraday effect can experience the resonant enhancement in the spectral range of the plasmonic and waveguide optical modes excitation. It happens both for $s$ and $p$-polarized light. Such an effect can serve for the spectrally selective detection of the short spin waves in the magnetic materials.
The inverse Faraday effect (IFE) allows the generation of magnetic fields by optical excitation only. Since its discovery in the 60s, it was believed that only an elliptical or circular polarization could magnetize matter by this magneto-optical phenomenon. Here, we demonstrate the generation of an IFE via a linear polarization of light. This new physical concept results from the local manipulation of light by a plasmonic nano-antenna. We demonstrate that a gold nanorod excited by a linear polarization generates a non-zero magnetic field by IFE when the incident polarization of the light is no…
Plasmonic Metasurfaces for Magnetic Skyrmion Control via the Inverse Faraday Effect
Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Institut des NanoSciences de Paris, INSP（索邦大学，法国国家科学研究中心，巴黎纳米科学研究所）；School of Optoelectronic Engineering and Instrumentation Science, Dalian University of Technology（大连理工大学光电工程与仪器科学学院）；Instituto de Engenharia de Sistemas E Computadores – Microsistemas e Nanotecnologias (INESC MN)（系统计算机工程研究所-微系统与纳米技术）；Institute of Condensed Matter and Nanosciences, Université Catholique de Louvain（天主教鲁汶大学凝聚态与纳米科学研究所）；School of Electronic and Information Engineering, Ningbo University of Technology（宁波理工学院电子与信息工程学院）；Blackett Laboratory, Department of Physics, Imperial College London（伦敦帝国理工学院物理系布莱克特实验室）；London Centre for Nanotechnology, Imperial College London（伦敦帝国理工学院伦敦纳米技术中心）；Laboratoire Albert Fert, CNRS, Thales, Université Paris-Saclay（巴黎萨克雷大学CNRS-Thales阿尔伯特·费尔特实验室）
The transverse magneto-optical Kerr effect (TMOKE) in magnetite-based magneto-plasmonic crystals is studied experimentally and theoretically. We analyze angle-resolved TMOKE spectra from two types of structures where noble metallic stripes are incorporated inside a thin magnetite film or located on top of a homogeneous film. A multiple wide band enhancement of the TMOKE signal in transmission is demonstrated. The complex dielectric permittivity and gyration are experimentally determined using the ellipsometry technique as well as Faraday rotation and ellipticity measurements. The obtained para…
Magnetoplasmonics is highly promising to devise active optical elements: modulating the plasmon resonance condition with magnetic field can boost the performance of refractometric sensors and nanophotonic optical devices. Nevertheless, real life applications are hampered by the magnetoplasmonic trilemma: 1) a good plasmonic metal has sharp optical resonances but low magneto-optical response; 2) a magnetic metal has strong magneto-optical response but a very broad plasmonic resonance; 3) mixing the two components degrades the quality of both features. To overcome the trilemma, we use a differen…
Frequency combs (FCs) -- spectra containing equidistant coherent peaks -- have enabled researchers and engineers to measure the frequencies of complex signals with high precision thereby revolutionising the areas of sensing, metrology and communications and also benefiting the fundamental science. Although mostly optical FCs have found widespread applications thus far, in general FCs can be generated using waves other than light. Here, we review and summarise recent achievements in the emergent field of acoustic frequency combs (AFCs) including phononic FCs and relevant acousto-optical, Brillo…
Circularly polarized optical excitation of plasmonic nanostructures causes coherent circulating motion of their electrons, which in turn, gives rise to strong optically induced magnetization - a phenomenon known as the inverse Faraday effect (IFE). In this study we report how the IFE also significantly decreases plasmon damping. By modulating the optical polarization state incident on achiral plasmonic nanostructures from linear to circular, we observe reversible increases of reflectance by 78% as well as simultaneous increases of optical field concentration by 35.7% under 10^9 W/m^2 continuou…
