Topological Magneto-optical Kerr Effect without Spin-orbit Coupling in Spin-compensated Antiferromagnet
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arXiv
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2025
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| author | Farhang, Camron Lu, Weihang Du, Kai Gao, Yunpeng Yang, Junjie Cheong, Sang-Wook Xia, Jing |
| author_facet | Farhang, Camron Lu, Weihang Du, Kai Gao, Yunpeng Yang, Junjie Cheong, Sang-Wook Xia, Jing |
| contents | The magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE), the differential reflection of oppositely circularly polarized light, has traditionally been associated with relativistic spin-orbit coupling (SOC), which links a particle's spin with its orbital motion. In ferromagnets, large MOKE signals arise from the combination of magnetization and SOC, while in certain coplanar antiferromagnets, SOC-induced Berry curvature enables MOKE despite zero net magnetization. Theoretically, large MOKE can also arise in a broader class of magnetic materials with compensated spins, without relying on SOC - for example, in systems exhibiting real-space scalar spin chirality. The experimental verification has remained elusive. Here, we demonstrate such a SOC- and magnetization-free MOKE in the noncoplanar antiferromagnet Co1/3TaS2. Using a Sagnac interferometer microscope, we image domains of scalar spin chirality and their reversal. Our findings establish experimentally a new mechanism for generating large MOKE signals and position chiral spin textures in compensated magnets as a compelling platform for ultrafast, stray-field-immune opto-spintronic applications. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_09493 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Topological Magneto-optical Kerr Effect without Spin-orbit Coupling in Spin-compensated Antiferromagnet Farhang, Camron Lu, Weihang Du, Kai Gao, Yunpeng Yang, Junjie Cheong, Sang-Wook Xia, Jing Optics Strongly Correlated Electrons The magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE), the differential reflection of oppositely circularly polarized light, has traditionally been associated with relativistic spin-orbit coupling (SOC), which links a particle's spin with its orbital motion. In ferromagnets, large MOKE signals arise from the combination of magnetization and SOC, while in certain coplanar antiferromagnets, SOC-induced Berry curvature enables MOKE despite zero net magnetization. Theoretically, large MOKE can also arise in a broader class of magnetic materials with compensated spins, without relying on SOC - for example, in systems exhibiting real-space scalar spin chirality. The experimental verification has remained elusive. Here, we demonstrate such a SOC- and magnetization-free MOKE in the noncoplanar antiferromagnet Co1/3TaS2. Using a Sagnac interferometer microscope, we image domains of scalar spin chirality and their reversal. Our findings establish experimentally a new mechanism for generating large MOKE signals and position chiral spin textures in compensated magnets as a compelling platform for ultrafast, stray-field-immune opto-spintronic applications. |
| title | Topological Magneto-optical Kerr Effect without Spin-orbit Coupling in Spin-compensated Antiferromagnet |
| topic | Optics Strongly Correlated Electrons |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.09493 |