Giant magneto-optical response of ferromagnetic EuB6

S. Broderick; L. Degiorgi; H. R. Ott; J. L. Sarrao; Z. Fisk

doi:10.1140/epjb/e20020123

EPJ

Giant magneto-optical response of ferromagnetic EuB₆

S. Broderick¹, L. Degiorgi¹^a, H. R. Ott¹, J. L. Sarrao² and Z. Fisk²

¹ Laboratorium für Festkörperphysik, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
² NHMFL-FSU, Tallahassee FL 32306, USA

Received: 7 February 2002
Published online: 15 May 2002

Abstract

EuB₆, a ferromagnet with a Curie temperature of

K, exhibits very large magnetoresistive effects at temperatures both above and below T_C. We present our magneto-optical investigations, including measurements of the reflectivity and Kerr rotation, covering the spectral range from the infrared up to the ultraviolet, as a function of temperature between 1.5 and 20 K and in external magnetic fields from 0 to 10 T. The Kerr rotation at high fields and low temperatures is enormous. The spectra reflect aspects of the large magnetoresistance and are shown to discriminate between the spectroscopic response of localized and itinerant electronic states in the ferromagnetic state.

PACS: 78.20.Ls – Magnetooptical effects / 75.50.Cc – Other ferromagnetic metals and alloys