The interaction between light and the magnet is enhanced inside the magnetic crystal.
Image source: City College of New York
Science and Technology Daily (Reporter Liu Xia) Scientists from the City College of New York in the United States published a paper in the magazine "Nature" published on the 16th, saying that trapping light in magnetic materials may significantly enhance their inherent properties, and the interaction between light and magnets The effect will also be strengthened. The strong optical response of magnets is important for the development of magnetic lasers and magneto-optical memory devices, as well as for emerging quantum transduction applications.
In the latest study, a team led by Vinod Menon reports on the properties of a layered magnet containing strongly bound excitons, quasiparticles with particularly strong optical interactions. Because of this, the material itself is capable of capturing light.
Their experiments showed that the material's optical response to magnetic phenomena is orders of magnitude higher than that of ordinary magnets. The researchers note that the interaction between light and the magnet is indeed enhanced because the light bounces back and forth inside the magnet.
When an external magnetic field is applied to a material, the near-infrared reflection of light changes greatly and the material essentially changes color. This is a very strong magneto-optical response. But in general, light does not react that strongly to magnets and magnetic phenomena, so technical applications based on the magneto-optical effect often require very sensitive optical detection. The researchers pointed out that today's technical applications of magnetic materials are mostly related to magnetoelectric phenomena. Given the strong interaction between magnetism and light, magnetic lasers and optically controlled magnetic memories may be developed in the future.
