Resonant magneto-optic Kerr effect in CdTe/Cd1−xMnxTe quantum-well structures

We present a study of the magneto-optic Kerr effect (MOKE) in the region of the heavy-hole exciton ground state performed on asymmetric quantum wells ${\mathrm{Cd}}_{1\mathrm{-}\mathrm{x}}$ ${\mathrm{Zn}}_{\mathrm{x}}$Te/CdTe/${\mathrm{Cd}}_{1\mathrm{-}\mathrm{x}}$ ${\mathrm{Mn}}_{\mathrm{x}}$Te. A multilayer model developed for quantum-well structures accounts quantitatively for the MOKE line shapes using parameters deduced from magnetoreflectance analysis. The field behavior of energies and intensities of the Kerr resonances underline the interest of MOKE measurements, particularly at low field, where a linear dependence between Zeeman splitting and Kerr angle amplitude has been observed. Comparison is given with calculated Faraday rotation.