GOALI: Magnetooptical Materials for Integrated Optical Isolators

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NON-TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION: Future ultra-fast communications and data processing will be carried out using photonic chips, in which the data is transmitted using light (instead of conventional electric current). These photonic chips include miniature lasers and other devices that produce and modulate beams of light. One important component of a photonic chip is called an isolator, which acts as one-way valve for light. Isolators are made from transparent magnetic materials, and the aim of this project is to develop and test new and improved materials for these critical components, which will make it possible to create complete integrated optical chips. Graduate and undergraduate student researchers will carry out research on this project and will collaborate with industrial partners. Additionally, outreach activities will be developed such as high school demonstrations of optical communications systems. TECHNICAL DETAILS: This work is important because it will explore the properties of a family of materials based on the perovskite lattice which have previously not been considered for isolators. If successful, a range of photonic or data storage applications are possible. The project will involve the fabrication of perovskite-structured materials, of formula ABO3, where metal ions A and B are closen such that the material will be magnetic and have a high Faraday rotation. Earlier work on garnet materials suggests that ions such as Bi or Ce in the A sites and Co and Fe in the B sites will be promising candidates. Films will be made by pulsed laser deposition and characterized in terms of structure, optical, magnetic and magnetooptical properties. The properties will be modeled and related to the coordination and valence state of the ions. Graduate and undergraduate students will be trained in advanced materials synthesis, measurement and modeling, and will have the opportunity to collaborate with photonics companies and work on internships.