Magneto-Optical Materials for Photonics and Recording

Recent advances in the fabrication of magneto-optical materials and their integration into various platforms continue to open up new avenues for the development of integrated magneto-photonic devices and magnetic recording media. Researchers in both magneto-optical and other magnetic materials field come together in this volume to highlight just such advances. One subject receiving significant attention is magnetic photonic crystals. Results on the superprism effect, and three-dimensional magnetophotonic crystals based on synthetic opals, are featured. A theoretical model for slowing down light in artificial magnetoelectric media is introduced. Applications of a variety of magneto-optic materials for optical isolators and magnetic field sensors are also featured, as are magneto-optic materials for recording applications. By fabricating multilayer thin-film stacks of magnetic materials, coupled either by means of their magnetostatic or exchange interactions, storage densities can now be substantially increased. Another avenue for increased storage density is heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR). A clever design of exchange-coupled ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic materials is proposed as a HAMR medium that can satisfy both thermal stability and recordability requirements. In addition, experimental results demonstrate that ferromagnetic resonance frequency will not limit the switching rates at elevated temperatures and GHz data rates for HAMR media should be possible. Topics include: magneto-photonic crystals; optical isolators; magneto-optical disk and heat-assisted magnetic recording; magneto-optical sensors and characterization; and magneto-optical materials.