Film Synthesis of Y3Al5O12 and Y3Fe5O12 by the Spray–Inductively Coupled Plasma Technique

Abstract

Thin films of yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG, Y3Al5O12) and yttrium iron garnet (YIG, Y3Fe5O12) were synthesized on single‐crystal Al2O3 substrates by a modification of spray pyrolysis using a high‐temperature inductively coupled plasma at atmospheric pressure (spray–ICP technique). Using this technique, films could be grown at faster rates (0.12 μm/min for YAG and 0.10 μm/min for YIG) than using chemical vapor deposition (0.005–0.008 μm/min for YAG) or sputtering (0.003–0.005 μm/min for YIG). The films were dense and revealed a preferred orientation of (211). The growth of YIG was accompanied by coprecipitation of α‐Fe2O3. The coprecipitation, however, could be largely suppressed by preliminary formation of a Y2O3 layer on the substrate.