Field control of magneto-optic gratings

The Faraday or Kerr rotation of the plane of polarization of light incident on adjacent magnetic domains has opposite sense. Thus light transmitted through a film containing stripe domains or reflected from it is diffracted, as by a grating. The period of such a grating can be controlled by the application of a uniform magnetic field. We report on experimental and theoretical work that explores the range of grating field control under quasistatic conditions, using real films, specifically