AF. Optical Faraday Rotators and Isolators

Optical Faraday isolators and rotators for optical feedback elimination and protection of sensitive and feedback-susceptible devices.

AFR in part number means Faraday rotator (supplied without polarizers), AFI means Faraday isolator (supplied with polarizers), PI means polarization-independent isolator (with polarizers)
- Damage threshold (typical): AFI isolators: 1 J/cm^2 at 10 ns; AFR rotators: 5 J/cm^2 at 10 ns; some isolator models are available in TFP version and 5 J/cm^2 at 10 ns DT, please enquire;
Optical power: TGG rods have higher average power threshold than Glass rods (we recommend using TGG for beams with average power roughly >10 W/cm^2);
- Isolation ratio in case of a rotator shows achievable isolation ratio with the use of properly chosen external polarizers.

Basic models of rotators and isolators are specified below, please enquire for custom specs:

Central wavelength, nm Clear aperture, mm1) Part number Rod material Peak Isolation, dB2) Bandwidth
(at >30 dB), nm
Tpeak, % LxWxH (beam height), mm
1250 4 5AFR-1250C TGG 35 ±5 98 65x71x77 (42)
5AFI-1250C 90 90x71x77 (42)
1030-1070,
fixed 3)
2 2AFR-1064C TGG 35 ±10 98 50x38x46 (26)
2AFI-1064C 93 78x38x46 (26)
4 4AFR-1064C 35 ±10 98 52x45x51 (28.5)
4AFI-1064C 93 85x45x51 (28.5)
6 6AFR-1064C 35 ±10 98 55x50x56 (31)
6AFI-1064C 93 92x50x56 (31)
8 8AFR-1064C 35 ±10 98 62x59x65 (35.5)
8AFI-1064C 93 100x59x65 (35.5)
10 10AFR-1064C 35 ±10 98 65x66x72 (39)
10AFI-1064C 93 110x66x72 (39)
12 12AFR-1064C 35 ±10 98 70x71x77 (41.5)
12AFI-1064C 93 250x71x77 (41.5)
15 15AFR-1064C 35 ±10 98 85x84x90 (48)
15AFI-1064C 93 255x84x90 (48)
700-900,
fixed 3)
2 2AFR-800C, G TGG (C) or Glass (G) 35 ±10 98 50x38x46 (26)
2AFI-800C, G 90 78x38x46 (26)
4 4AFR-800C 35 ±10 98 52x45x51 (28.5)
4AFI-800C 90 85x45x51 (28.5)
6 6AFR-800C, G 35 ±10 98 52x48x54 (30)
6AFI-800C, G 90 88x48x54 (30)
8 8AFR-800C, G 35 ±10 98 62x59x65 (35.5)
8AFI-800C, G 90 100x59x65 (35.5)
10 10AFR-800C, G 35 ±10 98 65x66x72 (39)
10AFI-800C, G 90 110x66x72 (39)
12 12AFR-800C, G 35 ±10 98 70x71x77 (41.5)
12AFI-800C, G 90 250x71x77 (41.5)
15 15AFR-800C, G 35 ±10 98 85x84x90 (48)
15AFI-800C, G 90 255x84x90 (48)
633 3 3AFR-633G Glass 35 ±10 98 50x38x46 (26)
3AFI-633G 85 85x38x46 (26)
4 4AFR-633С TGG 35 ±10 98 52x45x51 (28.5)
4AFI-633С 85 85x45x51 (28.5)
5 5AFR-633G Glass 35 ±10 98 52x48x54 (30)
5AFI-633G 85 90x48x54 (30)
532 3 3AFR-532С TGG 35 ±10 97 30x38x46 (26)
3AFI-532С 85 75x38x46 (26)
5 5AFR-532С 35 ±10 97 30x48x54 (30)
5AFI-532С 85 90x48x54 (30)
8 8AFR-532С 35 ±10 97 42x59x65 (35.5)
8AFI-532С 85 100x59x65 (35.5)
10 10AFR-532С 35 ±10 97 45x66x72 (39)
10AFI-532С 85 110x66x72 (39)
400 4 4AFR-400С TGG 35 ±5 85 30x45x51 (28.5)
4AFI-400С 75 60x45x51 (28.5)
6 6AFR-400С 35 ±5 85 30x48x54 (30)
6AFI-400С 75 70x48x54 (30)

Notes:
1) typical apertures, other apertures are available upon request;
2) >60 dB double-stage optical isolators are available upon request;
3) broadband or tunable version are available upon request.

A Faraday isolator (FI) is a nonreciprocal optical device which transmits the linearly polarized light in one direction and deflects the backward beam. It usually consists of a Faraday rotator and two polarizers. The Faraday rotator is made of magneto-optical active material which is placed into the permanent magnet system (Nd-Fe-B).

Two types of the magneto-optical active materials are available: Terbium-doped glass, Terbium-Gallium-Garnet (TGG) crystals.

The isolator protects a laser source by attenuating the reflected and backscattered light by several orders of magnitude (10^4 to 10^6). It is also used when some devices have extreme sensitivity to optical feedback which can cause intensity instabilities, frequency pulling and other undesirable effects. A Faraday isolator is also indispensable in CPA (chirped-pulse amplificaiton) laser layouts, where seed oscillator and its pump may get damaged easily by occasional back reflections.

 

-TFP: thin-film polarizer modifications are available for some popular laser wavelengths (like 800, 1030, 1064 nm) having higher laser-induced damage threshold of 5 J/cm^2 at 10 ns;

-60dB: double-crystal (two-stage, double stage) optical Faraday isolator units with up to 60 dB isolation ratio are available on custom basis;

-HT: some of the isolator models may be modified to have transmission as high as 92% with a swap of one of the Glan prism polarizers for a Rochon prism, however, this also brings the angle of the rejected beam closer to the main beam path.

- Available wavelength range for customized models: 400 nm to 1250 nm.

AFR in part number means Faraday rotator (supplied without polarizers), AFI means Faraday isolator (supplied with polarizers), PI means polarization-independent isolator (with polarizers)
- Damage threshold (typical): AFI isolators: 1 J/cm^2 at 10 ns; AFR rotators: 5 J/cm^2 at 10 ns; some isolator models are available in TFP version and 5 J/cm^2 at 10 ns DT, please enquire;
Optical power: TGG rods have higher average power threshold than Glass rods (we recommend using TGG for beams with average power roughly >10 W/cm^2);
- Isolation ratio in case of a rotator shows achievable isolation ratio with the use of properly chosen external polarizers.

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