Magneto-optical properties of nanodispersed iron thin films in the 1.0-5.0 eV photon energy range

Despite extensive studies on the magneto-optical properties of nanodispersed iron, questions remain regarding the influence of volume fraction of magnetic particles, particle size, shape, and the surrounding matrix on these properties. Both experimental and theoretical investigations are therefore essential. In this paper, we investigate the magneto-optical properties of nanodispersed iron thin films with weight thicknesses ranging from 5.4 to 13.0 nm in the photon energy range of 1.0−5.0 eV. We examine how structural parameters influence these properties. A generalized Maxwell-Garnett effective medium approximation is employed to describe and analyse the experimental data for iron thin films. The experimental and theoretical findings confirm that the magneto-optical properties undergo significant changes due to variations in the metal filling factor, particle shape factor, and matrix dielectric constant. Calculations demonstrate that, by taking these structural parameters into account, reasonable agreement can be achieved between experimental results and theoretical predictions.