Magnetooptical properties of perforated metallic films

Abstract It is shown that optical transmittance and the magnetooptical (MO) Faraday rotation in the heterostructure of a periodically perforated metallic layer attached to a smooth magnetic dielectric thin film demonstrate resonance dependences on the wavelength and magnetic-film thickness. It is possible to adjust geometrical and MO parameters of the system in order to get these resonance peaks close in wavelength and get enhanced Faraday rotation (by a factor of 5–10) along with sufficient transmittance (30–40%). The phenomenon is explained in terms of the excitation of the surface plasmon polaritons waves coupled with waveguided modes of the magnetic film.