All-optical vector measurement of spin-orbit-induced torques using both polar and quadratic magneto-optic Kerr effects

Xin Fan, Alex R. Mellnik, Wenrui Wang, Neal Reynolds, Tao Wang, Halise Celik, Virginia O. Lorenz, Daniel C. Ralph, John Q. Xiao

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

We demonstrate that the magneto-optic-Kerr effect with normal light incidence can be used to obtain quantitative optical measurements of both components of spin-orbit-induced torque (both the antidamping and effective-field components) in heavy-metal/ferromagnet bilayers. This is achieved by analyzing the quadratic Kerr effect as well as the polar Kerr effect. The two effects can be distinguished by properly selecting the polarization of the incident light. We use this all-optical technique to determine the spin-orbit torques generated by a series of Pt/Permalloy samples, finding values in excellent agreement with spin-torque ferromagnetic resonance measurements.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number122406
JournalApplied Physics Letters
Volume109
Issue number12
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 19 2016

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'All-optical vector measurement of spin-orbit-induced torques using both polar and quadratic magneto-optic Kerr effects'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this