It is currently admitted that the spin-orbit (SO) couplings play a determinant role in the origin of the magneto-optical (MO) properties of magnetic materials. It is unambiguously confirmed that the role of SO coupling of the excited configuration is very weak and that the SO coupling of the ground configuration has a great influence on the MO properties. Furthermore, the symmetry of the magnetic ion environment is a crucial factor. However, contrary to the theoretical results for the Kerr rotation of the transition metals Fe, Ni, Co and of MnBi, the Faraday rotation is not a linear function of the SO coupling strength of the ground configuration.Index Terms-Ferrimagnetic and paramagnetic crystals, magnetooptical properties, quantum theory, spin-orbit coupling.
The calculation of the contribution of the intraionic electric-dipole transitions between the 3d8 and 3d7 4p configurations of Ni2+ ions doped in barium ferrites to the Faraday effect is presented. It is shown that such transition is an important origin of the Ni contribution to the Faraday effect in the Ni-substituted barium ferrite. The energy difference between the mean energies of the 3d8 and 3d7 4p configurations is large. So the 496-nm wavelength (photon energy 2.5 eV) is far from the resonance frequencies. However, since the molecular field upon the Ni2+ ions is very large, the Faraday rotation at 496 nm produced by such transition is still large. Other possible origins are discussed briefly.
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