Magnetic linear dichroism effects in reflection spectroscopy: A case study at the Fe M2,3 edge

Abstract

Magneto-optical measurements are strongly dependent on the polarization of the radiation as well as the interaction geometry of the light with respect to the relative orientation and direction of the magnetization M. We performed magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) and magnetic linear dichroism (MLD) measurements around the Fe M2,3 transition by measuring the difference between the reflected intensities of right and left circular polarized light (MCD) and the difference between the reflected intensities for opposite magnetization directions (MLD). From the angular variations of the MCD measurements we extracted the dielectric tensor ε(ω) which was then used as an input parameter to calculate the magneto-optical response of Fe in reflection MLD spectra. The experimental data around the M2,3 edge show good agreement with model calculations.