Principal spectra describing magnetooptic permittivity tensor in cubic crystals

Abstract

We provide unified phenomenological description of magnetooptic effects being linear and quadratic in magnetization. The description is based on few principal spectra, describing elements of permittivity tensor up to the second order in magnetization. Each permittivity tensor element for any magnetization direction and any sample surface orientation is simply determined by weighted summation of the principal spectra, where weights are given by crystallographic and magnetization orientations. The number of principal spectra depends on the symmetry of the crystal. In cubic crystals owning point symmetry we need only four principal spectra. Here, the principal spectra are expressed by ab initio calculations for bcc Fe, fcc Co and fcc Ni in optical range as well as in hard and soft x-ray energy range, i.e. at the 2p- and 3p-edges. We also express principal spectra analytically using modified Kubo formula.