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Journal of Synthetic Crystals ›› 2025, Vol. 54 ›› Issue (10): 1696-1713.DOI: 10.16553/j.cnki.issn1000-985x.2025.0146

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Research Progress of Magneto-Optical Crystals and Devices

CHEN Wei(), WANG Chengqiang, CHEN Yangguo, ZHANG Rui, DANG Yu, CHEN Jiangxu, CHEN Qiuhua, ZHANG Xing()   

  1. CASTECH INC,Fuzhou 350003,China
  • Received:2025-07-14 Online:2025-10-20 Published:2025-11-11

Abstract: As a key component in laser systems, the core function of magneto-optical isolators relies on the Faraday effect of magneto-optical crystals, which can effectively isolate reflected light and improve the stability of laser systems. This article reviews the development history of magneto-optical materials, focusing on the magneto-optical properties, growth techniques, and application status of rare earth garnet crystals (such as TGG, TAG, TSAG, YIG) and fluoride crystals (such as CeF3, KTb3F10). TGG crystal is currently the most widely used magneto-optical material, but its magneto-optical performance is gradually facing bottlenecks in high-power lasers; TAG and TSAG crystals have better performance, with a Verdet constant more than 30% higher than that of TGG crystal, but they are more difficult to grow; YIG crystal exhibits excellent performance in the mid to far infrared range, with the Verdet constant reaching -515.82 rad/(T·m) at 1 064 nm, but size limitations still need to be overcome. Fluoride crystals (such as CeF3 and KTF) have emerged as a promising research field due to their high transmittance and low optical absorption. They show great potential, particularly in the ultraviolet (UV) and visible spectral bands, achieving transmittance rates of up to 85% in the UV region. In addition, this article explores the working principle, development history, and research progress of magneto-optical isolators, and looks forward to the application prospects of high-performance magneto-optical materials and devices in the future.

Key words: magneto-optical crystal; magneto-optical effect; garnet crystal; fluoride crystal; magneto-optical isolator

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