Vector-magneto-optical generalized ellipsometry

We present the setup of a variable-angle vector-magneto-optical generalized ellipsometer (VMOGE) in the spectral range from 300 to 1100 nm using an octupole magnet, and demonstrate VMOGE measurements of the upper 3 x 4 submatrix of the Mueller matrix in a magnetic field of arbitrary orientation and magnitude up to 0.4 T at room temperature. New "field orbit" measurements can be performed without physically moving the sample, which is useful to study magnetic multilayer or nanostructure samples. A 4 x 4 matrix formalism is employed to model the experimental VMOGE data. Searching the best match model between experimental and calculated VMOGE data, the magneto-optical dielectric tensor epsilon(MO) of each layer in a multilayer sample system can be determined. In this work, we assume that the nonsymmetric terms of epsilon(MO) are induced by an external magnetic field and depend linearly on the sample magnetization. Comparison with vector magnetometer measurements can provide the anisotropic magneto-optical coupling constants Q(x), Q(y), Q(z). (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3568822]