Magnetophotonic crystal comprising electro-optical layer for controlling helicity of light

Abstract

We present a magnetophotonic crystal (MPC) comprising an electro-optical (EO) layer which can control the helicity of the light by low voltage at high speed at room temperature. Within the photonic bandgap of the MPC the localized spectral position of eigen circularly polarized modes are separated. The change of refractive index of EO layer in MPC allows us to choose which eigen mode works at the wavelength of the light source. This medium does not require the high voltage to change the phase of light because of thin thickness of EO layer. In this paper, the calculated results showed that the helicity of light can be controlled by low voltage (<0.5 V) in MPC comprising EO layer. Such a behavior is fascinating for the micro switching device which modulates the rotation direction of circularly polarized light in the optical-magnetic recording system.