Speaker
Description
The analysis of the polarization status of electromagnetic waves is fundamental for a large number of fields of research and technological applications. Intense magnetic fields modify the polarization of the emitted thermal radiation in white dwarf stars. Atomic displacements in solids -phonons- can be detected by Raman scattering with the use of light polarization analysis. Magnetic layers, due to the magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE), modify the polarization of transmitted and reflected photons. Extending these techniques both to the x-ray regime and to the femtosecond time-scale might impact our knowledge and technology.
We present here a polarimeter designed for femtosecond MOKE experiments in the EUV range. The polarimeter, combined with the high degree of polarization control and the femtosecond time-resolution of the free-electron laser FERMI, can capture the evolution of the magnetization of single atomic species. We show the design of the device and several experiments performed in the latest years.
