Submicron bubble garnets with nearly isotropic magnetostriction

Abstract

Magnetic garnet films with large, negative and nearly equal magnetostriction coefficients along [111] and [100], supporting submicrometer diameter bubbles were grown using the liquid-phase epitaxy technique. Such isotropic magnetostriction was achieved by incorporating dysprosium ions in the dodecahedral sites. Bismuth was also included in these films to provide the essential uniaxial anisotropy and fine tuning of the magnetostriction coefficients. The effect of growth conditions such as the growth temperature and the melt composition on the magnetostriction coefficients is discussed. Ion-implanted contiguous disk devices fabricated using such films are shown to exhibit similar margins for the ‘‘good’’ and ‘‘bad’’ propagation directions.