Optical and magneto-optical properties of Tb(Mn1−xFex)2 compounds where x=0.35, 0.5, 0.65

Abstract The room temperature optical and magneto-optical properties of the polycrystalline Tb(Mn 1− x Fe x ) 2 compounds where x =0.35, 0.5, 0.65 were investigated using spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) and magneto-optical polar Kerr spectrometry (MOPKS). The diagonal component of the optical conductivity tensor ( σ xx ) of the compound was obtained by SE in the 1.6–5.0 eV region and the magneto-optical parameters [Kerr rotation ( θ K ) and ellipticity ( e K )] by MOPKS in the 1.5–5.5 eV energy range. The magnitudes of the Kerr rotation and ellipticity of Tb(Mn 1− x Fe x ) 2 for x =0.5 and 0.65 in the ultraviolet (UV) region are much larger than those of Tb(Mn 1− x Fe x ) 2 for x =0.35. The origin of the difference in the spectra was explained on the basis of the electronic and magnetic properties of the compounds. The large room temperature values of the Kerr rotation in the UV region for x =0.5 and 0.65 suggests these alloys might be candidate materials for magneto-optical applications.