Gyrotropic photonic crystal waveguide switches

Abstract

Functional photonic crystals fabricated in iron garnet films are shown to provide magnetically-controllable optical switching. Transverse-electric and transverse-magnetic stop band separation in conjunction with optical gyrotropy are utilized to selectively block and transmit near-infrared light in waveguide geometries. Geometrical birefringence allows the simultaneous low- and high-birefringence in different modes necessary to create band gap separation and effective magneto-optic gyrotropy in a single device.