Growth and Optical Properties of Ce-Substituted Fibrous YIG Single Crystals

Ce-substituted fibrous YIG (Y 3- X Ce X Fe 5 O 12 ; Ce:YIG) single crystals were successfully grown by a floating zone method using YAG laser heating. We observed that Ce:YIG crystals show uniform distribution of Ce in the YIG crystal and an excellent magnetooptical property in the near-infrared region up to the Ce substitution of X =0.3. However, the solubility limit of Ce into the YIG crystal was confirmed to be approximately 0.3 in our growth method, by the composition analysis, lattice constant and Faraday rotation measurements. Ce-substituted YIG with X =0.3 shows a large Faraday rotation and small optical absorption coefficient in the wavelength region of 1.51–1.57 µm and is expected to be applicable to the optical isolator.