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US 7,254,286 B2Granted
Magneto-optical resonant waveguide sensors
AssigneeLake Shore Cryotronics, Inc.
InventorsVladimir Kochergin, Philip Swinehart, Mokhtar Maklad
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Abstract
A waveguide magneto-optic sensor provides a signal indicative of the value and/or direction of a detected magnetic field by a spectral shift of the characteristic resonant spectral feature of the sensor is disclosed. The sensor does not suffer from vibrations, fiber bending or other light intensity noise and provides an absolute self-referencing signal. The sensor elements can easily be coupled to optical fibers and read with scanning spectrometers or scanning lasers calibrated against NIST-traceable gas absorption standards.
Claims33
A waveguide magneto-optical sensor element comprising:
- a substrate;
- at least one layer of magneto-optically (MO) active material disposed thereon having predetermined magnetic and magneto-optical properties;
- at least one waveguide structure supporting at least one TM-polarized waveguide mode that is at least partially localized within said at least one MO-active layer;
- at least one waveguide resonator structure for a waveguide mode formed upon at least one magneto-optically active layer such that said waveguide mode is at least partially localized in at least one MO-active layer;
- said waveguide resonator exhibiting a characteristic resonant spectral feature in the transmitted and reflected waves, said waveguide resonator converting the value of the magnetization of said MO-active layer into a spectral shift of the characteristic spectral feature of said resonator;
- and
- a light coupler that couples light into and out of said waveguide magneto-optical sensor element.
4 more elements
A waveguide magneto-optical sensor element comprising:
- a substrate;
- at least one layer of magneto-optically (MO) active material disposed thereon having predetermined magnetic and magneto-optical properties;
- at least one waveguide structure supporting at least one TM-polarized waveguide mode that is at least partially localized within said at least one MO-active layer;
- at least one waveguide resonator structure for a waveguide mode formed upon at least one magneto-optically active layer such that said waveguide mode is at least partially localized in at least one MO-active layer;
- said waveguide resonator exhibiting a characteristic resonant spectral feature in the transmitted and reflected waves, said waveguide resonator converting the value of the magnetization of said MO-active layer into a spectral shift of the characteristic spectral feature of said resonator;
- and
- a light coupler that couple light into and out of said waveguide magneto-optical sensor element,
- wherein said waveguide resonator comprises a ring-type of resonator, which converts the value of the magnetization projection perpendicular to the plane of the MO film into a spectral shift of the ring spectral resonance feature.
5 more elements
A waveguide magneto-optical sensor element comprising:
- a substrate;
- at least one layer of magneto-optically (MO) active material disposed thereon having predetermined magnetic and magneto-optical properties;
- at least one waveguide structure supporting at least one TM-polarized waveguide mode that is at least partially localized within said at least one MO-active layer;
- at least one waveguide resonator structure for a waveguide mode formed upon at least one magneto-optically active layer such that said waveguide mode is at least partially localized in at least one MO-active layer;
- said waveguide resonator exhibiting a characteristic resonant spectral feature in the transmitted and reflected waves, said waveguide resonator converting the value of the magnetization of said MO-active layer into a spectral shift of the characteristic spectral feature of said resonator;
- and
- a light coupler that couples light into and out of said waveguide magneto-optical sensor element,
- wherein said waveguide resonator comprises a ring-type of resonator, which converts the value of the nonuniformity of magnetization projection in the plane of MO the film into a spectral shift of the ring resonance feature.
5 more elements
A waveguide magneto-optical sensor element comprising:
- a substrate;
- at least one layer of magneto-optically (MO) active material disposed thereon having predetermined magnetic and magneto-optical properties;
- at least one waveguide structure supporting at least one TM-polarized waveguide mode that is at least partially localized within said at least one MO-active layer;
- at least one waveguide resonator structure for a waveguide mode formed upon at least one magneto-optically active layer such that said waveguide mode is at least partially localized in at least one MO-active layer;
- said waveguide resonator exhibiting a characteristic resonant spectral feature in the transmitted and reflected waves, said waveguide resonator converting the value of the magnetization of said MO-active layer into a spectral shift of the characteristic spectral feature of said resonator;
- and
- a light coupler that couples light into and out of said waveguide magneto-optical sensor element,
- wherein said waveguide resonator is a disk-type of resonator, which converts the value of the magnetization projection perpendicular to the plane of the MO film into a spectral shift of the disk resonance feature.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.