Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
4, JULY 1999
Abstract—Magneto-optical methods were applied for the first fact, there is no established method available yet for the
time in millimeter wavelength range for characterization of accurate measurement of magnetic permeability in millimeter
anisotropic ferrites. The principles of the free-space magneto- wave range. The rapid decline of magnetic permeability in
optical method are presented and the new experimental pro-
cedures leading to the determination of millimeter-wave per- this frequency range complicates the problem of separation of
meability and permittivity in anisotropic ferrite materials are weak magnetic effects from much stronger effects associated
described. The measurements were performed with a computer- with dielectric permittivity. Therefore, the sensitivity and the
controlled W-band (70–120 GHz) quasi-optical-waveguide bridge. accuracy of an applied measurement method are crucial for the
A backward-wave oscillator was used as a source of tunable reliable determination of mm-wave magnetic permeability.
millimeter wave radiation. The oriented Sr-hexaferrite ceramic
was selected for the verification of millimeter-wave magneto- Various microwave techniques, such as cavity and wave-
optical method. The magneto-optical measurements in trans- guide methods, were used in the past for the measurement of
verse configuration revealed strong anomalous dispersion in the mm-wave magnetic permeability [7], [8]. However, the drastic
millimeter-wave refractive index spectrum for Sr hexaferrite, drop of the accuracy of microwave methods in the mm-wave
mainly due to the frequency variation of magnetic permeability. range restricts the application of this method. Based on the
Computer simulations revealed a good agreement of measured
parameters with known data for Sr hexaferrite. It was shown that optical concept, a free-space method is capable of providing
the free-carrier absorption ( 0:05
01 cm01 ) and magnetic the accurate mm-wave data due to its superior precision [9].
permeability contribute to the relatively high millimeter-wave There are several mm-wave quasi-optical methods that can
losses in hexaferrite ceramics. The frequency dependence of lead to the determination of permeability and permittivity
Faraday rotation in the millimeter-wave range was measured, [10]. Specifically, a set of any four quasi-optical (transmission
and the experimental results are discussed. The results presented
in this paper demonstrate that this new magneto-optical method and/or reflection) measurements provides enough data for the
is capable of providing accurate dielectric and magnetic data in evaluation of mm-wave complex permittivity and permeability
the millimeter-wavelength range. using Fresnel equations [11]. But, this indirect method requires
Index Terms—Anisotropy, hard ferrites, hexaferrites, magnetic extremely accurate repositioning of a sample at every measure-
permeability, magneto-optics, millimeter waves. ment. One of the authors earlier applied another free-space
method [12]. In this approach the sub-millimeter magnetic
permeability of antiferromagnets was evaluated from the study
I. INTRODUCTION of magneto-optical activity. Recently the authors applied this
dielectric permitivity [13]. But in the mm-wave range such wave with elliptic polarization. The ellipticity is given by the
activity is initiated entirely by magnetic permeability [14]. This expression [17]
enables the direct determination of millimeter wave magnetic
permeability using magneto-optical effects. The theory of (5)
magneto-optical activity in the isotropic ferrites is considered
in [15]. This theory holds for the anisotropic ferrites too
provided that the polarization of propagating wave is aligned III. MEASUREMENT METHOD AND INSTRUMENTATION
along the main optical axes. Here, however, the equations
for propagation constant have to be modified to take into The analytical solution for the problem of propagation of
consideration the crystalline anisotropy in hexaferrites plane wave through a planar specimen leads to the accurate
measurement of complex propagation constant. A distinc-
(1) tive interference pattern, which develops in the transmission
spectra of the low-loss materials like microwave ferrites,
allows the evaluation of both the real and imaginary parts
(2) of propagation constant using only the scalar transmission
measurements. Hexaferrites are, however, more absorbing
where and are, respectively, diagonal and nondiagonal materials. Therefore, it is required to apply a microwave bridge
components of the permeability tensor [15], [16]. method for the measurement of the refractive index and the
The propagation of a plane wave through a ferrite mag- extinction coefficient.
netized along the direction of propagation is another The submillimeter wave two-beam Mach–Zehnder interfer-
specific configuration that is important for magneto-optical ometric technique with the quasi-optical arms was used in
measurements. In this case the linearly polarized plane wave the past for the study of dielectric permittivity in solids [18].
transforms into the two circularly polarized waves which prop- Significant technical complications, however, originate when
agate through a magnetized medium with different propagation such quasi-optical interferometer has to be combined with a
constants [15] large electromagnet. For the millimeter wavelength range, one
can use the waveguide and quasi-optical components to form a
(3) two-beam interferometer, which is essentially a quasi-optical-
waveguide bridge. When the tunable mm-wave sources are
where are the magnetic permeabil- used, such as backward wave oscillators (BWO), the output
ities of the circular waves. signal of unbalanced bridge is a rapidly oscillating function
The negative sign is for the wave with a clockwise rotation of frequency with the sharp minima. The sample placed in
of polarization plane, while the positive sign corresponds to one of the arms introduces phase retardation and the shift of
the wave with opposite direction of rotation. The difference minima. This shift provides a direct information leading to the
between the real parts of circular permeabilities initiates the determination of refractive index of a specimen under study.
rotation of polarization plane with specific rotation power , The extinction coefficient can be evaluated from the free-space
given as [16], [17] transmission spectrum.
The block diagram of computer controlled quasi-optical-
(4) waveguide bridge is shown in Fig. 1. It consists of the quasi-
optical (measurement) arm and the waveguide (reference) arm.
where is a path of the wave in magnetized ferrite. An electronically sweepable BWO was used as a source of a
The difference between the imaginary parts of circular coherent radiation in the frequency range 70–120 GHz. The
permeabilities leads to the different attenuation rates and radiation of BWO was modulated with a full-band wave-
results in transformation of a linearly polarized wave into a guide Faraday modulator. The mm-wave radiation was nearly
2106 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MAGNETICS, VOL. 35, NO. 4, JULY 1999
Fig. 4. The evaluated spectrum of the real part of magnetic permeability Fig. 5. The mm-wave spectrum of extinction coefficients for the oriented
for the oriented Sr-hexaferrite ceramic in the remanent (solid line) and the Sr-hexaferrite ceramic sample. The best-fit theoretical curve, given by (19),
demagnetized (dashed line) states. corresponds to k0 = 0:067 and = 0; 5 GHz.
interference oscillations at low frequencies was accompanied in Fig. 3 is plotted using the calculated frequency dependence
by the decrease of minima. Such behavior cannot be explained of permeability. This curve fits well to the experimental
without considering the effect of permeability. Indeed, the transmission spectrum of Sr-hexaferrite ceramic. But the curve
increase of amplitude of oscillations indicates the increase of generated with demonstrates progressive declination
reflectivity. But, according to the following expression from experimental results as the frequency decreases. The
total extinction coefficients comprising both the dielectric and
(6) magnetic losses are shown in Fig. 5.
Fig. 2 shows a noticeable dispersion of the refractive index
which holds for the nonmagnetic insulators, the reflectivity for the polarization as well. The domains that cause this
has to decrease because of the decrease of refractive index at dispersion poses magnetic moment, which is declined from the
low frequencies. This contradiction vanishes when the effect axis of polarization. The theoretical simulation of frequency
of magnetic permeability is accounted. The consideration of dependence of the refractive index for this polarization was
permeability results in transformation of the expression (6) into realized similarly as in the former case. The only specified
parameter was the frequency of natural magnetic resonance
GHz, the same as in the previous case. The
(7)
dielectric permittivity , which follows from the
theoretical simulations, as well as the frequency dependence
Assuming that the mm-wave permittivity is almost a constant of the real part of permeability , are shown in Figs. 3 and
value and attributing all the changes of refractive index to the 4, respectively. The frequency dependence of total extinction
permeability, one can get the observed increase of reflectivity coefficient for this polarization is shown in Fig. 5.
from expression (7). The measured frequency dependence The experimental results obtained for the demagnetized
of the refractive index was simulated theoretically sample are shown in Fig. 4. These results show that the real
using known expressions for the permeability [15], [16]. part of perpendicular permeability in demagnetized state
The theoretical best-fit curve shown in Fig. 2 corresponds to slightly changes, while the parallel permeability remains
Oe and GHz. Our measured data almost the same. These results agree well with the suggestion
for remanent magnetization agree well with data provided by that in oriented ceramic the magnetization remains aligned pre-
the manufacturer. The frequency of magnetic resonance is dominantly along the polarization axis even in a demagnetized
also in a good agreement with that calculated using known state. The total effect does not vanish after averaging through
value of the crystalline anisotropy in Sr hexaferrite [20]. domains with opposite directions of magnetization since the
The calculated refractive index was also transverse magneto-optical effect does not depend on the sign
in a reasonable agreement with the value measured for a of magnetization vector. Similar results were obtained for the
related compound Ba hexaferrite [21]. The real part of mm- extinction coefficient.
wave permeability of Sr hexaferrite is determined now as It is known that the hexaferrites are quite stable compounds.
The calculated frequency dependence of per- However, deviation from the stoichiometry leads to the excess
meability is presented in Fig. 4. The theoretical curve shown of the Fe ions to preserve the electrical neutrality. The
2108 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MAGNETICS, VOL. 35, NO. 4, JULY 1999
(8)
where is the frequency independent background extinction
coefficient and is the extinction coefficient associated
with magnetic resonance. The best-fit theoretical curve, shown Fig. 6. Transmission spectrum of the oriented Sr-hexaferrite ceramic sample
in Fig. 5, is plotted using (8) with and in Faraday configuration (k kM ):
GHz.
The experimental linewidth of magnetic resonance ( sign around 100 GHz due to strong dispersion of the magnetic
Oe, which follows from this curve, is larger permeability. At the frequency of crossing, the anisotropic
than one measured in single crystals [20]. The background Sr-hexaferrite ceramic becomes isotropic. The frequency of
extinction coefficient is also too high for the crossing can be tuned with a magnetic field. This effect
polarization mechanism and we believe that it is due to the has no analogy for the isotropic ferrites. The feasibility of
free-carrier absorption. The declination of extinction coeffi- controlling the birefringence provides new opportunities for
cient with increasing frequencies is typical for a free-carrier the application of oriented hexaferrite ceramics in mm-wave
mechanism [22]. The contribution of magnetic resonance into ferrite device technology.
the ordinary extinction coefficient is almost negligible. The
ordinary extinction coefficient is higher than the background
B. Longitudinal (Faraday) Configuration
extinction coefficient. One can see that the ordinary extinction
coefficient rapidly decreases with increasing frequencies. Our Magneto-optical measurements in the longitudinal configu-
preliminary broadband (up to 300 GHz) measurements using ration were performed with the slab of oriented Sr-hexaferrite
the Fourier transform technique [22] showed that the ordinary permanent ceramic magnet, magnetized through a plane. The
extinction coefficient approaches the extraordinary extinction typical transmission spectrum corresponding to the case when
coefficient at 180 GHz. The magnetic permeability of Sr the analyzer and polarizer are aligned parallel to each other
hexaferrite also vanishes at such high frequencies. Since is shown in Fig. 6. A wide minimum in the transmittance,
the frequency domains for the dichroism and permeability centered at 85 GHz, originates from the rotation of polariza-
are the same, it is reasonable to believe that the magnetic tion plane by odd number of Such rotation results in
permeability is also accountable for the observed dichroism. blocking of radiation by the analyzer. A set of transmission
The following expression, which usually holds for the low- measurements performed with the different angles between
conducting materials [23], supports this suggestion: the polarizer and analyzer provides the frequency dependency
of rotation angle. The experimental results for the frequency
(9) dependence of specific Faraday-rotation power in Sr hex-
aferrite are presented in Fig. 7. One can see that the rotation
A microwave conductivity , evaluated power increases when we approach the frequency of magnetic
for Sr hexaferrite using (9), is consistent with the conductivity resonance. These data agree well with the similar results
–0.1 measured in Ba hexaferrite [24]. obtained in [25]. From (4) and from inequality
In conclusion, we would like to emphasize some results , which is valid for hexaferrites in the mm-wave range,
which are important for the practical application of oriented Sr- it follows that the Faraday-rotation power above the resonance
hexaferrite ceramics. As it is seen from Fig. 2, the mm-wave is equal to
birefringence in oriented Sr-hexaferrite ceramics changes the
(10)
1 After this paper was prepared for publication we received Sr-hexaferrite
ceramics from Manatee Magnetic Corp. (Florida) with much lower mm-
wave absorption. The results of comparative analysis of the hexaferrites from The experimental data shown in Fig. 7 were simulated
different sources will be published elsewhere. theoretically using the expression (4) and the refractive index
KOCHARYAN et al.: MEASUREMENT OF COMPLEX MAGNETIC PERMEABILITY IN MILLIMETER-WAVE RANGE PART II: HEXAFERRITES 2109
wave range,” in 1994 IEEE Microwave Theory Tech.-S Dig., 1994, pp. Mohammed Nurul Afsar (F’89) received the B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in
1461–1464. physics from the University of Dhaka, presently in Bangladesh, the M.Sc.E.E.
[12] K. N. Kocharyan, “Submillimeter electrodynamics of noncollinear degree in microwaves and quantum electronics, Post-Graduate Diploma in
antiferro-magnets,” SPIE Proc., vol. 2211, pp. 722–729, Jan. 1994. microwave engineering, from University College London of the University
[13] M. Born and E. Wolf, Principles of Optics. New York: Pergamon, of London, U.K., and the Ph.D. degree in experimental physics from the
1975. University of London
[14] J. F. Dillon, E. M. Georgy, and J. P. Remeika, “Magneto-optical effects He taught Physics from 1968 until 1970. From 1972 until 1978 he worked
in the rare-eart iron garnets,” J. Appl. Phys., vol. 41, pp. 1211–1217, at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) of England in the Division of
Mar. 1970. Electrical Science, where he developed the techniques of Fourier transform
[15] B. Lax and K. J. Button, Microwave Ferrites and Ferrimagnetics. New spectroscopy for precision measurement of complex refractive index and
York: McGraw-Hill, 1962. complex dielectric permittivity and loss tangent of materials at millimeter
[16] A. G. Gurevich and G. A. Melkov, Magnetic Oscillations and Waves. and submillimeter wave frequencies. In 1978, he joined the Massachusetts
New York: CRC Press, 1996. Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA, where he worked as a Senior
[17] D. D. Stancil, Theory of Magnetostatic Waves. New York: Springer- Staff Scientist and Principal Investigator of several research projects. He
Verlag, 1993. continued the development of measurement techniques in solid, liquid, and
[18] A. A. Volkov, G. V. Kozlov, and A. M. Prokhorov, “Progress in
gaseous state materials as well as for characterization of impurities in highly
submillimeter spectroscopy of solids,” Infrared Phys., vol. 29, no. 2-4,
pure compound semiconductors such as GaAs and InP. His measurements
pp. 747–752, 1989.
provide highly precise data on standard reference materials at millimeter and
[19] R. Valenzuela, Magnetic Ceramics. New York: Cambridge Univ. Press,
submillimeter waves. He was one of the main organizers (Executive Secretary
1994.
[20] M. Labeyrie, J. C. Mage, and T. M. Robinson, “Characterization of 1985, 1987, 1988, and Conference Chairman 1990) of the IEEE and SPIE
strontium hexaferrite for millimeter waves application,” IEEE Trans. annual International Conference on Infrared and Millimeter Waves. Presently
Magn., vol. MAG-22, pp. 976–980, Sept. 1986. he organizes the annual SPIE International Conference on Millimeter and
[21] S. W. McKnight, L. Carin, C. Vittoria, S. F. Wahid, K. Agi, and D. Submillimeter Waves and Applications as the Conference Chairman. He is
Kralj, “Picosecond-pulse and millimeter-wave spectroscopy of barium the Consulting Editor for North America for the Institute of Physics book
ferrite,” IEEE Trans. Magn., vol. 32, pp. 372–376, Mar. 1996. series in Measurement Science and Technology. He served as a Member of
[22] M. N. Afsar and H. Chi, “Millimeter wave complex refractive index, the Editorial board of the Institute of Physics Journal of Measurement Science
complex dielectric permittivity and loss tangent of extra high purity and and Technology (formerly Journal of Physics E). From September 1984 until
compensated silicon,” Int. J. Infrared MM Waves, vol. 15, pp. 1–7, July August 1987, he worked as a full Professor in the Department of Electrical
1994. Engineering, City College and the Graduate School of the City University
[23] D. H. Staelin, A. W. Morgenthaler, and J. A. Kong, Electromagnetic of New York. Since October 1987, he is working as Professor of Electrical
Waves. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1990. Engineering and Computer Science at Tufts University, Medford, MA. He has
[24] J. R. Truedson, K. D. McKinstry, P. Kabos, and C. E. Patton, “High-field published approximately 160 papers inclusive of several book chapters. He
effective linewidth and eddy current losses in moderate conductivity edited two books in 1994, one in 1995, one in 1996, and one in 1998. All
single-crystal M-type barium hexagonal ferrite disks at 10–60 GHz,” J. five books were on millimeter and submillimeter waves and were published
Appl. Phys., vol. 74, pp. 2705–2718, 1993. by SPIE.
[25] G. M. Smith, S. King, C. Unsworth, E. Puplett, D. Franklin, and J. C. Dr. Afsar is a Chartered Engineer in England and was elected as a Fellow
G. Lesurf, “Microwave, millimeter wave and sub-millimeter wave free- of the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE), London, U.K., in 1986. He
space Faraday rotators,” in Dig. IEEE MTT Symp., Orlando, FL, 1995, is also a Chartered Physicist and was elected as a Fellow of the Institute of
pp. 1665–1668. Physics, London, in 1986. He was awarded the 1977 Duddell Premium (Prize)
by the IEE, London, for one of his outstanding publications. He is a member
of the Electromagnetics Academy, The Institute of Systems and Components,
and the American Physical Society. In 1992 he received the “Outstanding
Research on Ferrites’ award at the 6th International Conference on Ferrites
Karen N. Kocharyan (M’98) received the M.S. diploma in physics from held at Tokyo, Japan. In 1997 he received the “Man of the Year” award from
Moscow State University, Russia, in 1965, the degree of Candidate of Science American Biographical Institute Inc.
in physics from Kapitza Institute for Physical Research, Moscow, in 1973, and
the degree of Doctor of Science in physics from Lebedev Physics Institute
(now the General Physics Institute of Russian Academy of Science), Moscow,
in 1992.
From 1980 he was with the Institute of Radiophysics and Electronics, Igor I. Tkachov was born in Podolsk, Russia, in January 1969. He received
Armenia, where he was responsible for the development of the program of the engineer-physicist (M.S. physics) degree from the Moscow Engineering
submillimeter wave spectroscopy and the mm-wave applications. In 1995, and Physics Institute, Russia, in 1994 and the M.S. degree in electrical
he was appointed to the Chair of the Microwave Engineering Department of engineering from Tufts University, Medford, MA, in 1996. He is currently
Yerevan State University, Armenia. He joined the Department of Electrical working toward the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering at Tufts University.
Engineering and Computer Science at Tufts University, Medford, MA in 1997, During 1993–1994, he was with the General Physics Institute of Russian
where he is currently a Research Professor. He possesses 30 years professional Academy of Sciences, Moscow, as a Research Engineer. His current research
experience in solid-state physics, physics of magnetics, submillimeter wave interests are in the field of dielectric and magnetic properties measurements
spectroscopy, and quantum electronics. In the last few years he extended his in millimeter and submillimeter wave region.
research activity to the field of Gigahertz photonics and communications. His Mr. Tkachov is a member of Eta Kappa Nu.
current research interests concentrate on the development of new measurement
methods for the precise millimeter wave characterization of ferrites. He was
an Invited Speaker and co-editor of the fourth International Conference on
Millimeter and Submillimeter Waves and Applications, San Diego, CA, 1998.
He has co-authored in over 70 papers and holds one patent.
Dr. Kocharyan was elected a member of the Armenian Academy of Sciences
in 1995 and has been a member of the American Physical Society since 1993.