Patent ID: 6934068

Claim:
An optical system for imaging a two-dimensional distribution of a magnetic field, comprising: a light source providing light; a polarizer disposed to polarize said light and produce linearly polarized light; a magneto-optical imaging film structure comprising a substrate, a light reflector and at least one film exhibiting magneto-optical polarization rotation in response to the applied magnetic field, said magneto-optical imaging film further having an in-plane single easy axis type of anisotropy; an optical illumination system that directs said polarized light toward said magneto-optical imaging film such that the light reaches said film at an angle with respect to the normal direction to the magneto-optical imaging film surface; an optical detector, disposed in the path of light reflected from magneto-optical imaging film, providing an electrical detection signal indicative of the spatial distribution of the power of said light; and a signal processor responsive to said electrical detection signal, for conversion of said electrical signal from the optical detector to quantitative information of the magnetization distribution of the magneto-optical imaging film, and through said processing, the extraction of quantitative information on the spatial distribution of the magnetic fields in the location of said magneto-optical imaging film.