Enhancement of the Faraday Rotation of Iron Garnets by Bismuth and Rare‐Earth Ions

Ferrimagnetic single crystals derived from bismuth calcium vanadium iron garnet by gadolinium substitution are shown to exhibit a magnetic compensation temperature as well as a large Faraday rotation. Another garnet system Pr3–2xCa2xFe5−xVx O12 was studied, and it is found that the Faraday rotation increases rapidly with decreasing temperature. This suggests that the rare‐earth ion contributes significantly to the rotation. This is also found to be true for Dy3Fe5O12, and it is concluded that certain rare earths as well as bismuth may be useful in achieving magneto‐optical materials of improved performance.