Pulsed laser deposition of high-quality μm-thick YIG films on YAG

A Sposito,P A J De Groot,T C May-Smith,R W Eason,G B G Stenning

doi:10.1364/ome.3.000624

Abstract

We report the epitaxial growth of high-quality µm-thick yttrium iron garnet (YIG) films on yttrium aluminium garnet (YAG) substrates by pulsed laser deposition (PLD). The effects of substrate temperature and oxygen pressure on composition, crystallinity, optical transmission and ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) linewidth have been investigated. An FMR linewidth as low as 1.75 mT at 6 GHz was achieved by depositing YIG on YAG substrates with (100) orientation at a substrate temperature of ~1600 K and with oxygen pressure of ~1 Pa.

Highlights

Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) is a relatively inexpensive, simple, powerful and versatile deposition technique, which can be used to deposit a wide range of materials [1]
Magnetic properties of magneto-optic garnets can be tailored via PLD by changing the deposition conditions: for example, it has been demonstrated that coercivity and ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) linewidth of yttrium iron garnet (YIG) films decrease with increasing substrate temperature [9,10]
We report on the optimization of deposition conditions of YIG films grown on yttrium aluminium garnet (YAG) by PLD using measured values of the FMR linewidth, which were taken as a quality indicator

Summary

Introduction

Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) is a relatively inexpensive, simple, powerful and versatile deposition technique, which can be used to deposit a wide range of materials [1] Cubic materials such as garnets have been successfully grown [2], some of which (e.g. yttrium iron garnet or YIG – Y3Fe5O12) show magnetic and magneto-optic properties, which can be exploited for specific applications, such as Faraday rotators/isolators, magneto-optic memories and RF/microwave devices [3,4,5]. We report on the optimization of deposition conditions of YIG films grown on YAG by PLD using measured values of the FMR linewidth, which were taken as a quality indicator. All values of FMR linewidth reported here were measured as the FWHM of the FMR absorption at a RF frequency of 6 GHz

YIG on different substrates

Optimization of substrate temperature

Optimization of oxygen pressure

Conclusion