NSF Award
0338652
This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project addresses the device and market opportunity for thick magnetooptic garnet Faraday rotator films with planar anisotropy to be operated in the near infrared. Such films would be an innovative solution to device problems that require high speed continuously varying Faraday rotation with applied field. The scientific understanding to make thick-film planar <br/>Faraday rotators do not currently exist. This project will develop a method to establish the necessary criteria for the growth of materials of this type including melt composition, crystal composition, magnetic properties and growth conditions. The magnetic properties of these films will be optimized for sensors, where the film is required to have a sensitive response at low fields, and photonic devices, where a linear response to applied fields is critical. <br/><br/>The commercial impact of this project would be a less expensive magnetic and electromagnetic sensor. Such sensors have a potential for immediate impact in reliability of electric power distribution through failure anticipation and prevention and conservation of electric power through monitoring and control. These sensors could be developed at a variety of near-infrared wavelengths including the 800 nm, 1310 nm and 1550 nm bands. Applications for areas such as wheel and turbine rotation, electric power distribution, monitoring, metering and control and battlefield proximity sensors will be addressed in this project. The electric power application in particular has potential to revolutionize catastrophic failure prevention in the power grid and reduce power costs at a variety of levels.
