Optical and magneto-optical behavior of Cerium Yttrium Iron Garnet thin films at wavelengths of 200–1770 nm
Magneto-optical cerium-substituted yttrium iron garnet (Ce:YIG) thin films display Faraday and Kerr rotation (rotation of light polarisation upon transmission and reflection, respectively) as well as a nonreciprocal phase shift due to their non-zero off-diagonal permittivity tensor elements, and als...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
| Published: |
Nature Publishing Group
2017
|
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/108364 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2262-1249 |
| Summary: | Magneto-optical cerium-substituted yttrium iron garnet (Ce:YIG) thin films display Faraday and Kerr rotation (rotation of light polarisation upon transmission and reflection, respectively) as well as a nonreciprocal phase shift due to their non-zero off-diagonal permittivity tensor elements, and also possess low optical absorption in the near-infrared. These properties make Ce:YIG useful in providing nonreciprocal light propagation in integrated photonic circuits, which is essential for accomplishing energy-efficient photonic computation and data transport architectures. In this study, 80 nm-thick Ce:YIG films were grown on Gadolinium Gallium Garnet substrates with (100), (110) and (111) orientations using pulsed laser deposition. The films had bulk-like structural and magnetic quality. Faraday and Kerr spectroscopies along with spectroscopic ellipsometry were used to deduce the complete permittivity tensor of the films in the ultraviolet, visible and near-infrared spectral region, and the magneto-optical figure of merit as a function of wavelength was determined. The samples showed the highest IR Faraday rotation reported for thin films of Ce:YIG, which indicates the importance of this material in development of nonreciprocal photonic devices. |
|---|