Magnetooptic bounce-cavity modulator

In this paper a new type of magnetooptic modulator having a bounce-cavity structure is described. Direct amplitude modulation is achieved by utilizing the Faraday effect in conjunction with the differential reflectivity of dielectric mirrors for polarizations parallel to (TM) or perpendicular to (TE) the plane of incidence. We show that the transmission through the modulator is determined by the number of reflections, the reflectivity of the mirrors, and the difference in the phase shift for TE and TM reflected waves. The operation of this type of modulator has been successfully demonstrated with a preliminary device fabricated from YIG.