Waveguiding in All-Garnet Heteroepitaxial Magneto-Optical Photonic Crystals

We report the properties of 1D all-garnet heteroepitaxial 21 layered magneto-optical photonic crystal designed and fabricated for the resonance wavelength 750 ± 3 nm. It is composed of alternating magnetooptical-active Bi3Fe5O12 and transparent Sm3Ga5O12 quarter-wavelength layers radio frequency magnetron sputtered onto single crystalline Ca, Mg, Zr:Gd3Ga5O12(111) substrate. Edges of the band gap and resonant central peaks in transmission and Faraday rotation spectra experience significant (about 60 nm) “blueshift” when the angle of light incidence increases up to 70°. Lower reflectance and strong enhancement of Faraday rotation of TE mode compared to the TM-polarized light testify a waveguiding of TE-mode within a resonant λ/2 Bi3Fe5O12 cavity.