Effects of polarizer and analyzer imperfections in a magneto-optical Kerr spectrometer

Abstract

We have analyzed the effects of polarizer and analyzer imperfections in a phase-modulated magneto-optical Kerr spectrometer, using Jones matrices, and found that these imperfections do not seriously affect measurements of magneto-optical effects, to a first-order approximation. The analysis was experimentally proved in a magneto-optical Kerr spectrometer with a dichroic polarizer and analyzer with an extinction ratio of similar to 10(-2). (C) 2000 Optical Society of America [S0740-3224(00)03006-X].