Three-dimensional structure design on the nanoscale is in the focus of modern material science and engineering because intriguing applications are foreseen for such nanostructured films in various fields ranging from optics, electromechanics or electromagnetics. We utilize glancing angle electron-beam deposition, where physical shadowing and varying particle incidence azimuth are exploited for fabrication of three-dimensional individual nanostructures arranged in sculptured thin films with different morphologies. We will present the anisotropic (structure-related) optical and magneto-optical properties of sculptured thin films from cobalt. Generalized spectroscopic ellipsometry is employed to determine the anisotropic principal optical constants of slanted columnar and chiral nanocoil thin films in the spectral range from 400 to 1650 nm. These thin films show strong form birefringence and large dichroism and are distinctly different from their bulk material. We will also discuss why slanted columnar thin films have monoclinic optical properties [1]. Magneto-optic Kerr effect measurements in the polar configuration lead to the determination of the magneto-optical Q-values (Voigt parameters) of such highly anisotropic ferromagnetic sculptured thin films.

 

[1] D. Schmidt, A. C. Kjerstad, T. Hofmann, R. Skomski, E. Schubert, and M. Schubert, J. Appl. Phys. 105, XXX (2009).