Magneto-optical properties of nickel nanowire arrays

Abstract
We report on the magneto-optical properties of hexagonally arranged Ni nanowires embedded in anodic alumina templates. Due to the nanowire geometry, these samples show different response depending on the polarization orientation of the incident light, which leads to a high anisotropy of both their optical and magneto-optical properties. A strong increase of the magneto-optical activity is clearly observed with respect to the Ni bulk material. We associate this behavior to plasmon resonance of the Ni nanowires.