Date of Award
2018
Document Type
Open Access Master's Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science in Applied Physics (MS)
Administrative Home Department
Department of Physics
Advisor 1
Miguel Levy
Committee Member 1
Durdu Guney
Committee Member 2
Jae Yong Suh
Abstract
Recent work performed by A. Chakravarty and M. Levy showed experimentally a dramatic increase in the specific Faraday Rotation (FR) of the iron garnet Bi0.8Lu0.2Gd2Fe5O12. A theoretical model, based purely on classical electrodynamics, attempting to explain this behavior was developed by colleagues in Russia that not only confirmed the asymptotic increase in the specific FR at sub-50nm film thicknesses but also suggested that the specific FR should exhibit significant fluctuations at sub-500 nm film thicknesses. The original data points were widespread with steps of 50 nm or more between data points that skipped over the theoretical oscillations. Presented herein are the results of performing high-resolution data point steps of 5-15 nm with the intent of catching the oscillations. We have obtained data that confirms the presence of significant oscillations at thicknesses below 100 nm and have reconfirmed the behavior previously shown at ultrathin thicknesses. While the proposed model confirms some of the basic features of the original experimental data and makes additional predictions, now confirmed through the work reported in this thesis, further analysis is still needed to fully explain the observed experimental results. We have also included some possible explanations for this phenomenon.
Recommended Citation
Blasiola, Brandon, "Novel Faraday Rotation Effects Observed In Ultra-Thin Iron Garnet Films", Open Access Master's Thesis, Michigan Technological University, 2018.