Modeling of magneto-optical properties of lamellar nanogratings

Optical and magneto-optical (MO) properties of the MO nanometer-size gratings (nanogratings) are modeled using improved rigorous couple wave analysis (RCWA). The improvements include S-matrix propagation algorithm and Fourier factorization rules and lead to necessary numerical precision for the modeled quantities. The rigorous model is compared with effective medium approximation (EMA), used for simple description of the grating parameters, and the areas of differences are discussed. Dependence of optical and MO elements of permittivity tensor on the fill factor is presented together with comparison to the EMA. Basic polar, longitudinal, and transverse MO configuration are studied.