Abstract

Magnetostatic waves (MSWs) are the manifestation of high frequency (1-20-GHz) electromagnetic waves which propagate in ferrimagnetic materials (typically yttrium iron garnet, YIG) in which the magnetic dipoles are biased beyond saturation by static magnetic fields. The rf driven precession of magnetic dipoles in the ferrimagnetic material couples to the off-diagonal terms of the optical permittivity tensor. In a thin-film structure which supports optical guided waves, light will be both Faraday rotated and diffracted by the rf modulated terms in the permittivity tensor provided that phase-matching conditions are satisfied. Because of the steepness of the MSW dispersion relation, k(ω), these conditions limit the optical diffraction bandwidth to ~30 MHz.

© 1986 Optical Society of America