POLARIZATION EFFECT OF ONE-DIMENSIONAL SEMICONDUCTOR MAGNETOPHOTONIC STRUCTURES ON UNPOLARIZED LIGHT

In the paper, the polarization characteristics of light reflected from and transmitted through a one-dimensional magnetophotonic structure (MPS) have been theoretically and experimentally investigated. Attention has been paid to the one-dimensional MPSs with isotropic in a zero magnetic field magneto-optic medium inside. Attention has been paid to one-dimensional MPSs with an isotropic inside in zero magnetic field magnetooptical medium. The theoretical approach used the Jones vector formalism, as well as multi-beam summation, taking into account both the phase difference and the Faraday rotation of the electric vectors of light propagating in the MPS volume. It has been established that unpolarized light, after passing through a placed in an external magnetic field MPS or being reflected from it, acquires circular polarization. The theoretical consideration of the interaction of light with an MPS in a magnetic field explains this effect by the fact that the transmitted or reflected light decomposes into two circularly polarized components with opposite rotation directions and non-coinciding spectral distributions. The dependence of the polarization degree of the transmitted and reflected light on the magnetic field and wavelength has been investigated. It has been found that the spectral dependence of the degree of polarization has a cyclic sign-variable character. The polarization degree reaches its absolute maximum when the interference extrema of the components are in antiphase. For experimental studies, n-type InAs semiconductor plates were used as MPS. Their wide faces were polished and served as mirrors. The studies were carried out in the mid- and far-infrared wavelength range, corresponding to the Faraday effect on free charge carriers. The obtained experimental results are in good agreement with the theoretical ones. It is shown that the analysis of the relative shift of the spectral distributions of the light components that have passed through the MPS in the magnetic field or been reflected from it makes it possible to determine the value of the Faraday angle. The research results can be used to create devices for controlling the light parameters of the thermal spectral range and to develop the new magnetically controlled polarization devices.