Wave propagation

The inverse Faraday effect is the effect opposite to the Faraday effect. A static magnetization $\overrightarrow{M}(0)$ is induced by an external oscillating electrical field with the frequency $\omega$, which can be achieved with a high intensity laser pulse for example. The induced magnetization is proportional to the vector product of $\overrightarrow{E}$ and ${\overrightarrow{E}}^{*}$:

$\overrightarrow{M}(0)\propto [\overrightarrow{E}(\omega )\times {\overrightarrow{E}}^{*}(\omega )]$

From this equation we see that the circularly polarized light with the frequency $\omega$ should induce a magnetization along the wave vector $\overrightarrow{k}$. Because $\overrightarrow{E}$ is in the vector product, left- and right-handed polarization waves should induce magnetization of opposite signs.

The induced magnetization is comparable to the saturated magnetization of the media.

References

• R. Hertel, Microscopic theory of the inverse Faraday effect, http://arxiv.org/abs/cond-mat/0509060 (2005)
• A. V. Kimel, A. Kirilyuk, P. A. Usachev, R. V. Pisarev, A. M. Balbashov and Th. Rasing, Ultrafast non-thermal control of magnetization by instantaneous photomagnetic pulses, Nature 435, 655-657 (2005)