title: Optical and magneto-optical behavior of Cerium Yttrium Iron Garnet thin films at wavelengths of 200-1770 nm.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, MIT Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Mehmet C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Onbasli
authors.affiliation: Charles University of Prague, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Ke Karlovu 3, 12116 Prague 2, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Lukáš
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Beran
authors.affiliation: Charles University of Prague, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Ke Karlovu 3, 12116 Prague 2, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zahradník
authors.affiliation: Charles University of Prague, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Ke Karlovu 3, 12116 Prague 2, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Miroslav
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kučera
authors.affiliation: Charles University of Prague, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Ke Karlovu 3, 12116 Prague 2, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Roman
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Antoš
authors.affiliation: University of Pardubice, Faculty of Chemical Technology, Institute of Applied Physics and Mathematics, Studentska 95, 53210 Pardubice, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mistrík
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, MIT Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Gerald F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Dionne
authors.affiliation: Charles University of Prague, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Ke Karlovu 3, 12116 Prague 2, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Veis
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, MIT Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Caroline A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Ross