We present here a theoretical study that shows how the use of hybrid magnetoplasmonic crystals comprising both ferromagnetic and noble metals leads to a large enhancement of the performance of nanohole arrays as plasmonic sensors. In particular, we propose using Au–Co–Au films perforated with a periodic array of subwavelength holes as transducers in magneto-optical surface-plasmon-resonance sensors, where the sensing principle is based on measurements of the transverse magneto-optical Kerr effect. We demonstrate that this detection scheme may result in bulk figures of merit that are 2 orders of magnitude larger than those of any other type of plasmonic sensor. The sensing strategy put forward here can make use of the different advantages of nanohole-based plasmonic sensors such as miniaturization, multiplexing, and its combination with microfluidics.

We present here a generalization of the scattering-matrix approach for the description of the propagation of electromagnetic waves in nanostructured magneto-optical systems. Our formalism allows us to describe all the key magneto-optical effects in any configuration in periodically patterned multilayer structures. The method can also be applied to describe periodic multilayer systems comprising materials with any type of optical anisotropy. We illustrate the method with the analysis of a recent experiment in which the transverse magneto-optical Kerr effect was measured in an Fe film with a periodic array of subwavelength circular holes. We show, in agreement with the experiments, that the excitation of surface plasmon polaritons in this system leads to a resonant enhancement of the transverse magneto-optical Kerr effect.

In this work we analyse the magnetic field effects on the chirooptical properties of nm has a larger chirooptical response than the resonance at 650 nm, which, on the other hand, exhibits a larger magnetic field modulation of its chirooptical response.This dissimilar behaviour is due to the different physical origin of the chirooptical and magneto-optical responses. Whereas the chirooptical effects are due to the geometry of the structures, the magneto-optical response is related to the intensity of the electromagnetic field in the magnetic (Co) layers. We also show that the optical chirality can be modulated by the applied magnetic field, which suggests

We present a theoretical study of the Faraday effect in hybrid magneto-plasmonic crystals that consist of Au-Co-Au perforated membranes with a periodic array of sub-wavelength holes. We show that in these hybrid systems the interplay between the extraordinary optical transmission and the magneto-optical activity leads to a resonant enhancement of the Faraday rotation, as compared to purely ferromagnetic membranes. In particular, we determine the geometrical parameters for which this enhancement is optimized and show that the inclusion of a noble metal like Au dramatically increases the Faraday rotation over a broad bandwidth. Moreover, we show that the analysis of the Faraday rotation in these periodically perforated membranes provides a further insight into the origin of the extraordinary optical transmission.