Bismuth-doped yttrium iron garnet guided-wave magnetooptic Bragg cells and applications

Superior performance figures obtained with guided-wave magnetooptic Bragg cells using magnetostatic forward volume waves (MSFVWs) in bismuth-doped yttrium iron garnet-gadolinium gallium garnet (YIG-GGG) waveguides operating at an optical wavelength of 1.303 μm are reported. The figures include a center-frequency tuning range of 3.7 to 12.0 GHz, a diffraction efficiency of 12% at a MSFVW power of 56 mW and a linear dynamic range greater than 40 dB, and a null-to-null MO bandwidth of 1.40 GHz centered at 10.5 GHz. These results are significantly better than those obtained previously with pure YIG-GGG guided-wave MO Bragg cells. By tuning the RF frequency around 10.0 GHz at a fixed DC magnetic field of 3640 Oe and by varying the DC magnetic field around 3640 Oe at a fixed RF frequency of 10.0 GHz, scan angles of 6° and 5.3°, respectively, for the diffracted light beam were measured. RF spectral-analysis experiments over the entire frequency band from 3.7-12.0 GHz were also carried out. A frequency resolution of approximately 30 MHz was demonstrated