Eur. Phys. J. B (2014) 87: 219
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2014-50257-3

Regular Article

Kerr and Faraday microscope for space- and time-resolved studies

¹ Department of Physics and Research Center OPTIMAS, University of Kaiserslautern, Erwin-Schroedinger-Strasse 46, 67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany
² Institute of Physics, Chemnitz University of Technology, 09107 Chemnitz, Germany
³ Institut Jean Lamour, UMR 7198, Département Physique de la matière et des matériaux (P2M) CNRS, Nancy-Université, UPV-Metz, France

^a e-mail: oschmitt@rhrk.uni-kl.de

Received: 17 April 2014
Received in final form: 31 July 2014
Published online: 23 September 2014

Abstract

We present a multi-purpose scanning magneto-optical microscope for the investigation of magnetic thin films. The setup can be used for both static and time-resolved (pump-probe) measurements. It is moreover compatible with samples with arbitrary magnetic anisotropy, as it allows Kerr measurements in polar and longitudinal geometry as well as in transmission (Faraday geometry). We demonstrate that the microscope can be used in the following modi: (i) static imaging mode (in polar Kerr and Faraday geometry) with a spatial resolution of 1.7 μm; (ii) time-resolved mode (polar Kerr geometry) with a temporal resolution of 300 femtoseconds.