Resonant magneto-optic Kerr effects of a single Ni nanorod in the Mie scattering regime

We present a systematic, theoretical investigation of the polar magneto-optical (MO) Kerr effects of a single Ni nanorod in the Mie regime. The MO Kerr rotation, ellipticity, amplitude ratio, and phase shift are calculated as a function of the length and width of the nanorod. The electric field amplitude ratio of the MO Kerr effect is locally maximized when the nanorod supports a plasmonic resonance in the polarization state orthogonal to the incident light. The plasmonic resonances directly induced by the incident light do not enhance the amplitude ratio. In the Mie regime, multiple local maxima of the MO Kerr activity are supported by the resonant modes with different modal characteristics. From the viewpoint of first-order perturbation analysis, the spatial overlap between the incident-light-induced electric field and the Green function determines the local maxima. (C) 2016 Optical Society of America