Topological Magneto-optical Kerr Effect without Spin-orbit Coupling in Spin-compensated Antiferromagnet

[2507.09493] Topological Magneto-optical Kerr Effect without Spin-orbit Coupling in Spin-compensated Antiferromagnet Skip to main content Search Submit Donate Log in Search arXiv Press Enter to search · Advanced search Physics > Optics arXiv:2507.09493 (physics) [Submitted on 13 Jul 2025 ( v1 ), last revised 19 Feb 2026 (this version, v2)] Title: Topological Magneto-optical Kerr Effect without Spin-orbit Coupling in Spin-compensated Antiferromagnet Authors: Camron Farhang , Weihang Lu , Kai Du , Yunpeng Gao , Junjie Yang , Sang-Wook Cheong , Jing Xia View a PDF of the paper titled Topological Magneto-optical Kerr Effect without Spin-orbit Coupling in Spin-compensated Antiferromagnet, by Camron Farhang and 6 other authors View PDF Abstract: The magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE), the differential reflection of oppositely circularly polarized light, has traditionally been associated with relativistic spin-orbit coupling (SOC), which links a particle's spin with its orbital motion. In ferromagnets, large MOKE signals arise from the combination of magnetization and SOC, while in certain coplanar antiferromagnets, SOC-induced Berry curvature enables MOKE despite zero net magnetization. Theoretically, large MOKE can also arise in a broader class of magnetic materials with compensated spins, without relying on SOC - for example, in systems exhibiting real-space scalar spin chirality. The experimental verification has remained elusive. Here, we demonstrate such a SOC- and magnetization-free MOKE in the noncoplanar antiferromagnet Co1/3TaS2. Using a Sagnac interferometer microscope, we image domains of scalar spin chirality and their reversal. Our findings establish experimentally a new mechanism for generating large MOKE signals and position chiral spin textures in compensated magnets as a compelling platform for ultrafast, stray-field-immune opto-spintronic applications. Subjects: Optics (physics.optics) ; Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el) Cite as: arXiv:2507.09493 [physics.optics] (or arXiv:2507.09493v2 [physics.optics] for this version) https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2507.09493 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite Journal reference: Nature Communications, 17, 3386 (2026) Related DOI : https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-70238-0 Focus to learn more DOI(s) linking to related resources Submission history From: Jing Xia Mr. [ view email ] [v1] Sun, 13 Jul 2025 04:58:28 UTC (7,129 KB) [v2] Thu, 19 Feb 2026 22:25:12 UTC (11,501 KB) Full-text links: Access Paper: View a PDF of the paper titled Topological Magneto-optical Kerr Effect without Spin-orbit Coupling in Spin-compensated Antiferromagnet, by Camron Farhang and 6 other authors View PDF view license Current browse context: physics.optics < prev | next > new | recent | 2025-07 Change to browse by: cond-mat cond-mat.str-el physics References & Citations NASA ADS Google Scholar Semantic Scholar export BibTeX citation Loading... BibTeX formatted citation × loading... Data provided by: Bookmark Bibliographic Tools Bibliographic and Citation Tools Bibliographic Explorer Toggle Bibliographic Explorer ( What is the Explorer? ) Connected Papers Toggle Connected Papers ( What is Connected Papers? ) Litmaps Toggle Litmaps ( What is Litmaps? ) scite.ai Toggle scite Smart Citations ( What are Smart Citations? ) Code, Data, Media Code, Data and Media Associated with this Article alphaXiv Toggle alphaXiv ( What is alphaXiv? ) Links to Code Toggle CatalyzeX Code Finder for Papers ( What is CatalyzeX? ) DagsHub Toggle DagsHub ( What is DagsHub? ) GotitPub Toggle Gotit.pub ( What is GotitPub? ) Huggingface Toggle Hugging Face ( What is Huggingface? ) ScienceCast Toggle ScienceCast ( What is ScienceCast? ) Demos Demos Replicate Toggle Replicate ( What is Replicate? ) Spaces Toggle Hugging Face Spaces ( What is Spaces? ) Spaces Toggle TXYZ.AI ( What is TXYZ.AI? ) Related Papers Recommenders and Search Tools Link to Influence Flower Influence Flower ( What are Influence Flowers? ) Core recommender toggle CORE Recommender ( What is CORE? ) Author Venue Institution Topic About arXivLabs arXivLabs: experimental projects with community collaborators arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website. Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them. Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs . Which authors of this paper are endorsers? | Disable MathJax ( What is MathJax? ) We gratefully acknowledge support from our major funders , member institutions , , and all contributors. About · Help · Contact · Subscribe · Copyright · Privacy · Accessibility · Operational Status (opens in new tab) Major funding support from

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