This paper discusses the development of a universal Faraday rotator ba
sed on Nd:Fe:B permanent magnets. The rotator rotates the plane of pol
arization of radiation by 45 degrees in a wide range of wavelengths an
d can be used as the basic element of radiation isolators for lasers t
hat lase in the visible and near IR. (C) 1997 The Optical Society of A
merica.