Room-Temperature Ferromagnetic Materials Transparent in the Visible

Abstract

The only known crystals which have a spontaneous ferromagnetic moment at room temperature and are transparent well into the visible spectrum are ferric borate, FeBO3, and ferric fluoride, FeF3. Each of these rhombohedral materials is a canted antiferromagnet with a small moment lying in the plane perpendicular to its unique axis. The Curie temperatures are 348° and 363°K and the room-temperature moments are 115 and 40 G, respectively. Both materials contain ferric ions in a slightly distorted octahedral environment. Both are green with a series of absorption bands in the visible, a fundamental absorption edge in the violet (FeBO3) or ultraviolet (FeF3), and a large Faraday rotation per unit absorption at room temperature, as high as 14°/dB at 5250 Å for FeBO3 and 16°/dB at 4050 Å for FeF3. Recent measurements of the magnetic, optical, magneto-optical, and microwave resonance properties of these materials are discussed. Potential applications of room temperature transparent ferromagnets include microwave magneto-optical modulation of visible lasers with very low modulation power per unit bandwidth, optical deflection and isolation, magneto-optic displays, and holograms. Each of these applications is discussed along with the limitations imposed by the optical absorption and birefringence of the available materials. Birefringence interferes with the Faraday effect in most noncubic crystals. Methods for minimizing this interference are described. Finally, requirements for useful transparent ferromagnets are defined and guidelines for finding new materials are suggested.