Complex Faraday and Kerr Rotations in Right and Left Handed Films

TL;DR

This paper investigates the polarization rotations (Faraday and Kerr effects) in right and left handed films, revealing their complex behavior, symmetries, and resonant enhancements, with implications for optical material design.

Contribution

It introduces a complex-valued analysis of Faraday and Kerr rotations, highlighting symmetry properties and resonant effects in thin left-handed films.

Findings

Real parts of rotations are odd functions of refractive index n.

Imaginary parts of rotations are even functions of n.

Resonant enhancements of Kerr angle in thin left-handed films.

Abstract

By studying the rotations of the polarization of light propagating in right and left handed films, with emphasis on the transmission (Faraday effect) and reflec- tions (Kerr effect) of light and through the use of complex values representing the rotations, it can be shown that the real portions of the complex angle of Faraday and Kerr rotations are odd functions with respect to the refractive index n and that the respective imaginary portions of the angles are an even function of n. Multiple reflections within the medium lead to the maximums of the real portions of Faraday and Kerr effects to not coincide with zero ellipticity. It will also be shown that in the thin film case with left handed materials there are large resonant enhancements of the reflected Kerr angle that could be obtained experimentally.