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Sagnac interferometry can provide a substantial improvement in signal-to-noise ratio compared to conventional magnetic imaging based on the magneto-optical Kerr effect. We show that this improvement is sufficient to allow quantitative measurements of current-induced magnetic deflections due to spin-orbit torque even in thin-film magnetic samples with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, for which the Kerr rotation is second order in the magnetic deflection. Sagnac interferometry can also be applied beneficially for samples with in-plane anisotropy, for which the Kerr rotation is first order in the deflection angle. Optical measurements based on Sagnac interferometry can therefore provide a cross-check on electrical techniques for measuring spin-orbit torque. Different electrical techniques commonly give quantitatively inconsistent results so that Sagnac interferometry can help to identify which techniques are affected by unidentified artifacts. 

We adapt Sagnac interferometry for magneto-optic Kerr effect measurements of spin-orbit-torque-induced magnetic tilting in thin-film magnetic samples. The high sensitivity of Sagnac interferometry permits for the first time optical quantification of spin-orbit torque from small-angle magnetic tilting of samples with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA). We find significant disagreement between Sagnac measurements and simultaneously-performed harmonic Hall (HH) measurements of spin-orbit torque on Pt/Co/MgO and Pd/Co/MgO samples with PMA. The Sagnac results for PMA samples are consistent with both HH and Sagnac measurements for the in-plane geometry, so we conclude that the conventional analysis framework for PMA HH measurements is flawed. We suggest that the explanation for this discrepancy is that although magnetic-field induced magnetic tilting in PMA samples can produce a strong planar Hall effect, when tilting is instead generated by spin-orbit torque it produces negligible change in the planar Hall signal. This very surprising result demonstrates an error in the most-popular method for measuring spin-orbit torques in PMA samples, and represents an unsolved puzzle in understanding the planar Hall effect in magnetic thin films. 

We measure spin-orbit torque generated by exfoliated layers of the low-symmetry semi-metal ZrTe3 using the spin-torque ferromagnetic resonance (ST-FMR) technique. When the ZrTe3 has a thickness greater than about 10 nm, artifacts due to spin pumping and/or resonant heating can cause the standard ST-FMR analysis to overestimate the true magnitude of the torque efficiency by as much as a factor of 30, and to indicate incorrectly that the spin-orbit torque depends strongly on the ZrTe3 layer thickness. Artifact-free measurements can still be achieved over a substantial thickness range by the method developed recently to detect ST-FMR signals in the Hall geometry as well as the longitudinal geometry. ZrTe3/Permalloy samples generate a conventional in-plane anti-damping spin torque efficiency ξDL|| = 0.014 ± 0.004, and an unconventional in-plane field-like torque efficiency |ξFL||| = 0.003 ± 0.001. The out-of-plane anti-damping torque is negligible. We suggest that artifacts similarly interfere with the standard ST-FMR analysis for other van der Waals samples thicker than about 10 nm.