Use of AC Faraday rotation as a complementary technique in material characterization

• Main Authors: Maarij Syed, John Monarch, Wei Li, Nathaniel Fried
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: AIP Publishing LLC 2019-12-01
• Series: AIP Advances
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.5129975

Magnetic measurements like Hall Effect, etc. have a long history of providing useful information related to material characterization. Here, we study glasses using a very sensitive AC Faraday rotation (FR) setup to show that magneto-optic techniques can also be utilized to study types of samples that are not necessarily known for their magnetic response. Samples included in this study are widely used in technological and research applications ranging from microscopy to solar cell applications. The experimental setup employs a stabilized He-Ne lase (633 nm) along with AC magnetic field that enables lock-in detection. We investigate a series of glass samples that include borosilicate glass (BSG) and quartz subjected to UV treatment and glass with transparent conducting oxide films (TCO). The TCO samples include the more widely used Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) and the relatively newer Fluorine doped Tin Oxide films, usually referred to as FTO. Various other measurements like absorbance, four-point probe, and ellipsometry have been conducted on these samples as well. We mention the results of these measurements in conjunction with FR measurements, where needed. This work is focused on reporting novel results. A much more comprehensive manuscript is under preparation that explores the deeper connections between FR and the above-mentioned measurements.