Experimental investigation of the nonreciprocal phase shift of a transverse electric mode in a magneto-optic rib waveguide

Magnetic garnet films of composition (Nd, Lu, Bi)(3)(Fe, Al, Ga)(5)O-12 are grown by liquid-phase epitaxy on [111] oriented substrates of gadolinium gallium garnet. They have positive uniaxial anisoptropy and support lattices of parallel stripe domains. A monomode optical rib waveguide is prepared by photolithography and ion-beam etching parallel to the (11 (2) over bar) direction, which is the preferred direction of the stripe domains. A magnetic domain pattern can be created such that a domain wall is located at the rib center while the adjacent walls stick to the flanks of the rib. At a wavelength of 1.3 mu m a nonreciprocal phase shift of the guided fundamental transverse electric mode is observed. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(99)05120-7].