This work is devoted to the systematic study of the optical and magneto-optical properties of sputter deposited CuFe₂O₄ thin films in the photon energy region between 2 and 5 eV using spectroscopic ellipsometry and magneto-optical Kerr spectroscopy. The spectral dependence of both the diagonal and off-diagonal elements of the permittivity tensor is determined. A complete picture about the electron transitions in CuFe₂O₄ is suggested in the frame of intervalence charge transfer and intersublattice charge transfer transitions. The effect of deposition conditions and post-deposition treatment in CuFe₂O₄ films upon the optical and magneto-optical properties is discussed.

Department of Metallurgical Engineering and Material Science Indian Institute of Technology Bombay 400076 India

Department of Physics Indian Institute of Technology Bombay 400076 India

Faculty of Chemical Technology Univerzity of Pardubice Pardubice 53210 Czech Republic

Faculty of Mathematics and Physics Charles University Prague Prague 12116 Czech Republic

Groupe d'Etude de la Matiére Condensée CNRS Université Versailles St Quentin F 78035Versailles France

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