An EOM-assisted wave-vector-resolving Brillouin light scattering setup

TL;DR

This paper presents an improved wave-vector-resolving Brillouin light scattering setup that uses an electro-optical modulator for better calibration and accuracy in measuring spin wave vectors.

Contribution

It introduces an EOM-assisted method to enhance wave-vector resolution and calibration accuracy in Brillouin light scattering spectroscopy.

Findings

Enhanced wave-vector resolution achieved

Calibration accuracy limited only by measurement precision

Validated method with dipole-dominated spin wave measurements

Abstract

Brillouin light scattering spectroscopy is a powerful technique which incorporates several extensions such as space-, time-, phase- and wave-vector resolution. Here, we report on the improvement of the wave-vector resolution by including an electro-optical modulator. This provides a reference to calibrate the position of the diaphragm hole which is used for wave-vector selection. The accuracy of this calibration is only limited by the accuracy of the wave-vector measurement itself. To demonstrate the validity of the approach the wave vectors of dipole-dominated spin waves excited by a microstrip antenna were measured.