Nanophotonic devices based on magneto-optical materials: recent developments and applications

Abstract

Abstract Interaction between light and magnetism in magneto-optical (MO) nanophotonic devices has been actively studied in the past few years. The recent development of MO all-dielectric resonators and metasurfaces has led to the emergence of various novel MO phenomena that were not observed in their bulk counterparts. For example, a large s-polarized transverse MO Kerr effect can be observed at magnetic resonance wavelength, which cannot exist in the bare MO films. We review recent developments in nanophotonic devices based on MO materials and focus on different modes and related MO effects in nanophotonic structures with emphasis on recently discovered new MO phenomena in magnetoplasmonics and all-dielectric nanostructures, such as dark mode, all-dielectric Mie resonance and waveguide mode. Further, we discuss the potential applications of these nanostructures for biological/chemical sensing, magnetic field sensing, and magnetic field-controlled active and nonreciprocal metasurfaces.