We report on observation of a magneto-optical effect quadratic in magnetization (Cotton-Mouton effect) in 50 nm thick layer of Yttrium-Iron Garnet (YIG). By a combined theoretical and experimental approach, we managed to quantify both linear and quadratic magneto-optical effects. We show that the quadratic magneto-optical signal in the thin YIG film can exceed the linear magneto-optical response, reaching values of 450 urad that are comparable with Heusler alloys or ferromagnetic semiconductors. Furthermore, we demonstrate that a proper choice of experimental conditions, particularly with respect to the wavelength, is crucial for optimization of the quadratic magneto-optical effect for magnetometry measurement.
@article{arxiv.2110.13679,
title = {Giant quadratic magneto-optical response of thin YIG films for sensitive magnetometric experiments},
author = {E. Schmoranzerová and T. Ostatnický and J. Kimák and D. Kriegner and H. Reichlová and R. Schlitz and A. Baďura and Z. Šobáň and M. Münzenberg and G. Jakob and E. -J. Guo and M. Kläui and P. Němec},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2110.13679},
year = {2022}
}