A review of magneto-optical microstructure devices at terahertz frequencies

Recent research work on magneto-optical micro- structure devices in terahertz (THz) regime has been reviewed. Some magneto-optical materials responding at THz frequency range were introduced. Based on these magneto-optical materials, MO microstructures devices were reviewed, including magnetic photonic crystals, magneto-plasmonics, and magneto-metasurface all in the submillimetre scale. These devices can realize several functions of isolating, modulation, sensing, and directional beam scanning. Moreover, the necessary conditions of forming THz nonreciprocal transmission in magneto-optical microstructure devices were concluded, and the tunability of these devices was also analysed, which strongly depends on the magneto-optical property of material and the symmetry of structure. The unique magneto-optical effects make it play an irreplaceable role in the high performance THz applications of communication, imaging, and sensing systems. © 1995-2012 IEEE.