A COMBINED NONLINEAR AND LINEAR MAGNETOOPTICAL MICROSCOPY

New possibilities for magnetic domain studies are demonstrated using a combination of nonlinear magneto-optical microscopy and a conventiona l linear polarizing microscope. The use of an optical response that is governed by a higher rank tensor offers sensitivity to additional com binations of magnetization directions and optical wave vector and pola rization, which is demonstrated in magnetic garnet films of different crystallographic orientations. We observed a nontrivial modulated doma in structure in a (210) film and a clear domain contrast for a (111) f ilm, where the linear image only indicated simple up-down domains and no domain contrast for these two situations, respectively. (C) 1997 Am erican Institute of Physics.