MOKE Microscope Design and Construction

Magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) microscopy is frequently employed to study the magnetic properties of a material. The microscope is generally comprised of a light source, a series of focusing optics, a polarizer/analyzer pair, a beamsplitter, an objective lens, a detector, and a magnet mounted behind the sample. There are several necessary operations to complete in order to create a functional MOKE microscope beyond simply aligning the optical components. Those operations include mounting the magnet at the proper orientation behind the sample and calibrating the magnetic field. In the case where data collection is automated, as is the case in our lab, several additional tasks must be accomplished. Those tasks primarily revolve around interfacing various pieces of equipment, such as the camera and the magnet's power supply, with the data collection program we wrote in National Instruments' LabView application. The data collection program allows the user to generate an array of magnetic field values to be applied to the sample and to take images of the sample at each field value. Once the microscope is properly setup a future area of interest includes working with various artificial magnetic systems.