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Faraday isolators play a key role in the operation of large-scale gravitational-wave detectors. Second-generation gravitational-wave interferometers such as the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) and Advanced Virgo will use high-average-power cw lasers (up to 200 W) requiring specially designed Faraday isolators that are immune to the effects resulting from the laser beam absorption-degraded isolation ratio, thermal lensing, and thermally induced beam steering. In this paper, we present a comprehensive study of Faraday isolators designed specifically for high-performance operation in high-power gravitational-wave interferometers.

Unique Faraday isolator based on a TGG single crystal with aperture diameter of 40 mm for high average power lasers has been fabricated and investigated experimentally. The device provides a stable isolation ratio over 30 dB for large-radius laser beams with kilowatt average power radiation typical for high-power applications.

We propose a new type of Faraday isolator with compensation of the azimuthally symmetric component of polarization distortions by means of magnetic field inhomogeneity. The depolarization was attenuated in experiments by a factor of 7.

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