In-plane magnetization of garnet films imaged by proximal probe nonlinear magneto-optical microscopy

We show that small in-plane magnetization components in magnetic garnet fil ms with perpendicular anisotropy can be imaged using nonlinear magneto-opti cal proximal probe microscopy, i.e., magnetization-induced second harmonic generation together with a scanning near-field optical microscope. A relati onship exists between the in-plane magnetization domains we observed and th e typical maze-like out-of-plane magnetization domains that are simultaneou sly imaged recording the linear Faraday effect. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0021- 8979(00)01710-2].