Giant Magneto-Optical Sch\"{a}fer-Hubert Effect in Two-Dimensional van der Waals Antiferromagnets \textit{M}PS$_3$ (\textit{M}=Mn, Fe, Ni)

TL;DR

This study provides a theoretical analysis of the giant magneto-optical Schäfer-Hubert effect in 2D van der Waals antiferromagnets MPS3, revealing large rotation angles and methods to distinguish magnetic orders, with implications for nanophotonic applications.

Contribution

The paper develops a theoretical framework for evaluating the Schäfer-Hubert effect in 2D MPS3 antiferromagnets, including substrate effects and magnetic order distinctions.

Findings

Large magneto-optical rotation angles (>2°) in monolayer and bilayer MPS3.

Ellipticities serve as indicators for different interlayer magnetic orders.

The Schäfer-Hubert rotation angles are insensitive to Néel vector orientations.

Abstract

The recent discovery of long-range magnetic order in atomically thin films has triggered particular interest in two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals (vdW) magnetic materials. In this paper, we perform a systematic theoretical study of the magneto-optical Sch\"{a}fer-Hubert effect (MOSHE) in 2D vdW antiferromagnetic \textit{M}PS$_3$ (\textit{M} = Mn, Fe, Ni) with multifold intralayer and interlayer magnetic orders. The formula for evaluating the MOSHE in 2D magnets is derived by considering the influence of a non-magnetic substrate. The MOSHE of monolayer and bilayer \textit{M}PS$_3$ are considerably large ($>2^{\circ}$), originating from the strong anisotropy of in-plane optical conductivity. The Sch\"{a}fer-Hubert rotation angles are surprisingly insensitive to the orientations of the N\'{e}el vector, while the Sch\"{a}fer-Hubert ellipticities are identified to be a good criterion to distinguish different interlayer magnetic orders. Our work establishes a theoretical framework for exploring novel 2D vdW magnets and facilitates the promising applications of the 2D \textit{M}PS$_3$ family in antiferromagnetic nanophotonic devices.