Abstract

We present a bistable magnetooptic switch for optical communication systems which operates at a low-drive voltage of 5 V. This switch consists of a thin plate of YIG crystal with phase matching films used as a Faraday rotator, semicylindrical lenses, a polarizer, a polarization separator, and a semihard magnetic material. Figure 1 shows the device configuration for operation as a 1×2 optical switch. Switching operation is as follows: When linearly polarized light enters the Faraday rotator and travels along the axis of magnetization M parallel to the applied magnetic field, the polarization plane rotates +45 or−45° depending on the direction of M. Therefore, the traveling light may have two orthogonal polarizations. The optical paths of these polarizations are separated by the polarization separator (a Wollaston prism).

© 1981 Optical Society of America