Plasmonic enhancement of nonlinear magneto-optical response in nickel nanorod metamaterials

Abstract

Linear and nonlinear magneto-optical properties of the metamaterials based on nickel nanorod assemblies have been studied. The second-harmonic generation properties follow the effective medium description of the metamaterial as a homogeneous layer isotropic in the direction normal to the nanorod axes. Magneto-optical and nonlinear magneto-optical Kerr effects are enhanced in the vicinity of the plasmonic modes of Ni nanorods and of the photonic resonance of the metamaterial layer, while conventional (nonmagnetic) optical response does not exhibit plasmonic-related features. The observed surprisingly high sensitivity of magneto-optical and nonlinear magneto-optical responses to the metamaterial photonic modes is prospective for the diagnostics of plasmonic excitations in magnetic nanostructures and for possible applications in high density magneto-optical data storage.