Magnetization-induced anisotropy of second harmonic generation in thin cobalt films

Magnetization-induced effects in the symmetry properties of optical second harmonic generation (SHG) are studied in thin cobalt films. We demonstrate that the application of an external magnetic field leads to the appearance of a strong SHG azimuthal anisotropy from the isotropic Au/Co structure. Symmetry analysis of the SHG dependencies, supported by the SHG interferometry measurements, indicates that the effective magnetic and crystallographic second-order susceptibilities are both of the same order of magnitude. - Highlights: → The symmetry analysis of the experimental anisotropy of the second harmonic intensity shows that the effective magnetic. → And crystallographic second-order susceptibilities are of the same order of magnitude. → This effect is necessary when analysing the anisotropy of second-order nonlinear optical response of a magnetic structure.