Resonant optical effects in composite Co/opal-based magnetoplasmonic structures

Plasmonic structures are extremely attractive for the light flow manipulation. In turn, the spectrum of the plasmon excitations can be controlled by external magnetic field, thus giving rise to magnetoplasmonics. However, in the case of traditional magnetoplasmonic structures, the enhancement of magneto-optical (MO) effects is often accompanied by the transmission damp, which constricts the area of their applications. This paper examines resonant optical effects in composite structures based on artificial opal films covered by a thin cobalt layer, which forms a 2D hexagonal lattice of nanoholes in the metal film. Such periodic structure exhibits surface plasmon polariton-assisted extraordinary transmission along with the increase of odd in magnetization intensity magnetooptical effect in the Voigt geometry. Local field enhancement accompanying the surface plasmon polaritons excitation in composite Co/opal structure provides a distinct enhancement of the magnetization-induced second harmonic generation (SHG) and relevant MO effects at the SHG wavelength that appear as Fano-type resonances. High transmission along with resonantly-high MO effects make Co/opal films promising in plasmonic applications.