High transmittance and magneto-optical properties of Titanium, Cerium co-doped terbium gallium garnet ceramic

Magneto-optical materials based on transparent ceramics are providing promising opportunities for modern Faraday isolators. Titanium (Ti),Cerium (Ce), co-doped Tb3Ga5O12 (Ti/Ce:TGG) ceramics with high transmittance were prepared using the coprecipitated powders. The Ti/Ce:TGG magneto-optical ceramic with best quality was sintered at around 1500 degrees C for 8 h. It is noted that as-prepared ceramic presents the highest transmittance, corresponding to 81.0% at the wavelengths of 550-1450 nm. No secondary phase or obvious pores can be detected from the sample using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). The Verdet constant of Ti/Ce:TGG ceramic at 1064.0 nm is as high as 65.5 rad m(-1) T-1, which is much higher than that of pure TGG ceramic. The excellent optical and magneto-optical properties make Ti/Ce:TGG ceramic an attractive magneto-optical material.