A high-resolution Fourier transform spectrometer for far infrared magneto-optic spectroscopy of magnetic materials

We describe a high-resolution (0.015 cm(-1)) Fourier transform spectrometer which has been developed to investigate bulk and surface magnetic polaritons in magnetic media by far infrared magneto-optic spectroscopy. The spectrometer uses a novel combination of laser-controlled sampling of the interferogram and phase modulation of the infrared beam to combine very accurate sampling and low signal-to-noise ratio. The spectrometer is coupled to a liquid helium cryostat with a 7 T superconducting magnet, and a liquid helium-cooled silicon bolometer is used as the detector. Samples can be mounted in the cryostat for polarised oblique incidence reflection measurements in the Voigt geometry with the applied magnetic field vertical. Measurements on surface polaritons are made by using attenuated total reflection (ATR) spectroscopy with silicon prisms to obtain the necessary wave vector enhancement. The resolution of the instrument is demonstrated with measurements on the rotational lines of water vapour, and a selection of measurements on a bulk single crystal of FeF2, a uniaxial antiferromagnet, is presented to illustrate the performance of the instrument as a probe of magnetic excitations. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.