Influence of the linear magneto-electric effect on the lateral shift of light reflected from a magneto-electric film

TL;DR

This paper theoretically examines how the linear magneto-electric effect influences the lateral shift of infrared light reflected from a magnetic film, revealing a significant enhancement and nonreciprocal behavior due to magneto-electric coupling.

Contribution

It introduces a theoretical model accounting for the linear magneto-electric interaction to analyze the lateral shift of reflected light from magnetic films.

Findings

Magneto-electric coupling enhances lateral shift amplitude six-fold.

Reversing magnetization causes a sign change in the lateral shift.

The study provides insights into nonreciprocal optical effects in magnetic films.

Abstract

We present a theoretical investigation of the lateral shift of an infrared light beam reflected from a magnetic film deposited on a non-magnetic dielectric substrate, taking into account the linear magneto-electric interaction in the magnetic film. We use the stationary phase method to evaluate the lateral shift. It is shown that the magneto-electric coupling leads to a six-fold enhancement of the lateral shift amplitude of a p-(s-) polarized incident beam reflected into a s-(p-) polarized beam. A reversal of the magnetization in the film leads to a nonreciprocal sign change of the lateral shift.