Thin-film waveguide magneto-optic isolator

Abstract
A thin‐film waveguide Faraday rotator which provides nonreciprocal polarization rotation of ±45° for light of wavelength 1.45 μm with an extinction ratio of 500:1 has been demonstrated. This isolator structure makes use of laser annealing to reverse the sublattice magnetization and hence the sign of the Faraday effect in localized regions of a (Bi, Ga) yttrium iron garnet film. A novel geometrical pattern was designed for these regions to overcome the effects of the inherent thin‐film birefringence.