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When a polarized light beam is incident upon the surface of a magneticmaterial, the reflected light undergoes a polarization rotation. Thismagneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) has been intensively studied in a variety offerro- and ferrimagnetic materials because it provides a powerful probe forelectronic and magnetic properties as well as for various applicationsincluding magneto-optical recording. Recently, there has been a surge ofinterest in antiferromagnets (AFMs) as prospective spintronic materials forhigh-density and ultrafast memory devices, owing to their vanishingly smallstray field and orders of magnitude faster spin dynamics compared to theirferromagnetic counterparts. In fact, the MOKE has proven useful for the studyand application of the antiferromagnetic (AF) state. Although limited toinsulators, certain types of AFMs are known to exhibit a large MOKE, as theyare weak ferromagnets due to canting of the otherwise collinear spin structure.Here we report the first observation of a large MOKE signal in an AF metal atroom temperature. In particular, we find that despite a vanishingly smallmagnetization of $M \sim$0.002 $\mu_{\rm B}$/Mn, the non-collinear AF metalMn$_3$Sn exhibits a large zero-field MOKE with a polar Kerr rotation angle of20 milli-degrees, comparable to ferromagnetic metals. Our first-principlescalculations have clarified that ferroic ordering of magnetic octupoles in thenon-collinear Neel state may cause a large MOKE even in its fully compensatedAF state without spin magnetization. This large MOKE further allows imaging ofthe magnetic octupole domains and their reversal induced by magnetic field. Theobservation of a large MOKE in an AF metal should open new avenues for thestudy of domain dynamics as well as spintronics using AFMs.

Large magneto-optical Kerr effect and imaging of magnetic octupole domains in an antiferromagnetic metal