Advanced Materials and Device Architectures for Magnetooptical Spatial Light Modulators

Abstract Faraday and Kerr rotations are magnetooptical (MO) effects used for rotating the polarization of light in transmission and reflection from a magnetized medium, respectively. MO effects combined with intrinsically fast magnetization reversal, which can go down to a few tens of femtoseconds or less, can be applied in magnetooptical spatial light modulators (MOSLMs) promising for nonvolatile, ultrafast, and high‐resolution spatial modulation of light. With the recent progress in low‐power switching of magnetic and MO materials, MOSLMs may lead to major breakthroughs and benefit beyond state‐of‐the‐art holography, data storage, optical communications, heads‐up displays, virtual and augmented reality devices, and solid‐state light detection and ranging (LIDAR). In this study, the recent developments in the growth, processing, and engineering of advanced materials with high MO figures of merit for practical MOSLM devices are reviewed. The challenges with MOSLM functionalities including the intrinsic weakness of MO effect and large power requirement for switching are assessed. The suggested solutions are evaluated, different driving systems are investigated, and resulting device architectures are benchmarked. Finally, the research opportunities on MOSLMs for achieving integrated, high‐contrast, and low‐power devices are presented.