Faraday rotation in two-dimensional magneto-optic photonic crystal

We study the enhancement of Faraday rotation in a two-dimensional square-lattice magneto-optic photonic crystal at optical wavelengths. We show that on incidence of a TM plane wave onto the magneto-optic photonic crystal, high TM-TE mode conversion takes place in the transmission bands of TM and TE fields. The photonic crystal structure increases the average wave path length, which in turn leads to a growth in the polarization rotation. We also show that associated with this phenomenon is a widening of the photonic crystal transmission band.