Nonlinear magneto-optical Kerr effect in hyper-Rayleigh scattering from layer-by-layer assembled films of yttrium iron garnet nanoparticles

Magnetization-induced second-harmonic generation (SHG) in layer-by-layer assembled films containing yttrium iron garnet nanoparticles is observed. The SHG intensity, including its magnetoinduced component, linearly increases with the number of self-assembling layers, which indicates along with diffuseness of the SHG radiation that SHG occurs in its incoherent form: hyper-Rayleigh scattering (HRS). The nonlinear magneto-optical Kerr effect in HRS has a noticeable magnetic contrast brought about by the internal homodyne mechanism.