Compact magnetooptical isolator with cobalt ferrite on silicon photonic circuits

In the telecom wavelength range, the magnetooptical effect of cobalt ferrites is approximately 10 times larger than that of conventional magnetooptical materials such as yttrium iron garnets. In this study, we focus on an application of cobalt ferrite to a magnetooptical isolator that is to be miniaturized and made suitable for integration. First, we prepare polycrystalline cobalt ferrite films deposited on a silicon substrate using a MgO buffer layer. Next, we fabricate a waveguide optical isolator of silicon waveguides by the partial deposition of the cobalt ferrite films. An optical isolation ratio of 5.5 dB is demonstrated.