A series of one-dimensional heteroepitaxial all-garnet magneto-optical photonic crystals (MOPCs) were pulsed laser deposited to operate at 550 and 470 nm wavelength. We explored the concept of blue shift of the optical absorption edge of ferric ions by substituting Fe with Ga on the tetrahedral sites as well as Bi and Y, respectively, with Ca and Ce at the dodecahedral coordinated positions. 17-layered [Y2Ce1Fe5O12/Gd3Ga5O12] MOPC with a total thickness of 968 nm demonstrates superior magneto-optical performance: Faraday rotation theta(Fmax) = + 2.0 degrees and transmittance as high as 0.35 at the resonance wavelength of 470 nm. (c) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.