Iron Garnet Research Articles

Spin magnetotransport in rare-earth iron garnet (REIG)/Pt: Effects of modulated bulk and REIG/Pt interfaces

The intrinsic magnetization compensation behaviors of rare-earth iron garnets (REIGs) make the material promising for applications in ultrafast spin storage devices. REIG/heavy metal heterostructures such as TbIG/Pt often display two sign crossovers of anomalous Hall effect resistance with varying temperatures. One of these crossovers is attributed to the magnetization compensation of REIG, and the other to the competition between the magnetic proximity effect and the spin Hall effect. Here, we design trilayer REIG heterostructures based on two rare-earth species (Tb and Eu). We modulate the layer stacking of the TbIG/EuIG/TbIG sandwich with a fixed total thickness and explore the contributions of REIG bulk and REIG/Pt interfaces on these two crossover points. As TbIG gradually moves away from Pt, the compensation temperature shows some fluctuations. However, when TbIG is entirely out of contact with Pt, the second crossover point undergoes a change that shows REIG/Pt interface dependency. The results highlight the dominance of REIG bulk on the compensation behavior and the interface sensitivity of the second crossover point. This study provides a reference for designing controllable spintronics devices, such as magnon valve applications.

Enhancing terahertz magneto-optical effects in wafer-scale RIG single crystal thick films with anti-reflective coatings for improved transmittance

Wafer-scale rare-earth iron garnet (RIG) single crystal thick films were fabricated on 3-in. gadolinium gallium garnet (GGG) substrates using liquid phase epitaxy. The terahertz transmittance of the RIG crystals improved after removing the GGG substrate by polishing. The time-domain spectra at Terahertz (THz) frequencies indicate the existence of a magneto-optical effect in RIG samples. The results indicate that the RIG samples exhibit a high refractive index of ∼4.50 within the 0.1–1.0 THz frequency range, a transmittance of around 40%, and an absorption rate of only 10–50 cm−1. The Faraday rotation angles of the thick single-crystal films of the RIG samples were measured using a THz-TDS system. The RIG has a thickness of ∼330 μm. The Faraday rotation angles of RIG crystals at THz frequencies can reach up to 16° when an external magnetic field of 0.18 T is applied. The Verdet constants of the RIG sample were calculated to be ∼120°/mm/T. To improve the transmittance of the RIG sample, epoxy resin and polymethylpentene (TPX) were used as anti-reflective films. The transmittance of the RIG sample increased by ∼5% for the 80 μm thick epoxy and about 10% for the 320 μm thick TPX. Therefore, this RIG single crystal thick film can achieve a low loss, a high transmittance, and a strong magneto-optical effect in the terahertz region with the cooperation of a reflection-reducing film. It is expected to have wide applications in terahertz magnetic polarization conversion, non-reciprocal phase shifters, and isolators.

Phase jumps in coupled magnonic waveguides

In this work we present an experimental study of the phase characteristics of magnetostatic quasi-surface waves (MQSW) in a tangentially magnetized yttrium iron garnet (YIG) thin film bilayer. The phase of MQSWs was measured as a function of air gap (g) between two magnonic waveguides. It is shown that the energy exchange between two YIG layers is accompanied by relatively sharp π-radian phase jumps of MQSWs, at specific values of g. The effect was studied at large wavelengths of the MQSWs, and at a propagation distance of 1 cm. The theory predicts that the slope of the phase shift (∂φ/∂g) at submicrometric values of g can be of the order of a few degrees per nm.

Separation of Inverse Altermagnetic Spin-Splitting Effect from Inverse Spin Hall Effect in RuO_{2}.

Recently, a significant amount of attention has been attracted toward a third classification of magnetism, altermagnetism, due to the unique physical properties of altermagnetic materials, which are compensated collinear antiferromagnets that host time-reversal symmetry-breaking phenomena like a ferromagnet. In an altermagnetic material, through the nonrelativistic altermagnetic spin-splitting effect (ASSE), a transverse spin current is generated upon charge current injection. However, it is very challenging to experimentally establish the ASSE since it is inevitably mixed with the spin Hall effect due to the relativistic spin-orbit coupling of the material. Additionally, the dependence on the hard-to-probe and hard-to-control Néel vectors makes it even more difficult to observe and establish the ASSE. In this Letter, we utilize the thermal spin injection from the ferrimagnetic insulator yttrium iron garnet and detect an inverse altermagnetic spin-splitting effect (IASSE) in the high-quality epitaxial altermagnetic RuO_{2} thin films. We observe an opposite sign for the spin-to-charge conversion through the IASSE compared to the inverse spin Hall effect (ISHE). The efficiency of the IASSE is approximately 70% of the ISHE in RuO_{2}. Moreover, we demonstrate that the ASSE or IASSE effect is observable only when the Néel vectors are well aligned. By modifying the Néel vector domains via RuO_{2} crystallinity, we study the ASSE or IASSE unequivocally and quantitatively. Our Letter provides significant insight into the spin-splitting effect in altermagnetic materials.

Acoustically driven ferromagnetic resonance in YIG thin films

Acoustically driven ferromagnetic resonance (ADFMR) is a platform that enables efficient generation and detection of spin waves via magnetoelastic coupling with surface acoustic waves (SAWs). While previous studies successfully achieved ADFMR in ferromagnetic metals, there are only few reports on ADFMR in magnetic insulators such as yttrium iron garnet (Y3Fe5O12, YIG) despite more favorable spin wave properties, including low damping and long coherence length. The growth of high-quality YIG films for ADFMR devices is a major challenge due to poor lattice-matching and thermal degradation of the piezoelectric substrates during film crystallization. In this work, we demonstrate ADFMR of YIG thin films on LiNbO3 (LNO) substrates. We employed a SiOx buffer layer and rapid thermal annealing for crystallization of YIG films with minimal thermal degradation of LNO substrates. Optimized ADFMR device designs and time-gating measurements were used to enhance the ADFMR signal and overcome the intrinsically low magnetoelastic coupling of YIG. YIG films have a polycrystalline structure with an in-plane easy direction due to biaxial stresses induced during cooling after crystallization. The YIG device shows clear ADFMR patterns with maximum absorption for H ≈ 160 mT parallel to SAW propagation, which is consistent with our simulation results based on existing theoretical models. These results expand possibilities for developing efficient spin wave devices with magnetic insulators.

Wideband isolator based on one-way surface magnetoplasmons with ultra-high isolation

In this paper, we present a new type of isolator based on one-way surface magnetoplasmons (SMPs) at microwave frequencies, and it is the first time that an experimental prototype of isolator with wideband and ultra-high isolation is realized using SMP waveguide. The proposed model with gyromagnetic and dielectric layers is systematically analyzed to obtain the dispersion properties of all the possible modes, and a one-way SMP mode is found to have the unidirectional transmission property. In simulation and experiment with metallic waveguide loaded with yttrium–iron–garnet (YIG) ferrite, the scattering parameters and the field distributions agree well with the analysis and verify the one-way transmission property. The isolation is found to be as high as 80 dB and the typical value of insertion loss is 1 dB. Besides, the one-way transmission band can be controlled by changing the magnetic bias. From theoretical analysis and simulation, it is found that with a tiny value of 10 Oe of the magnetic bias, the relative bandwidth can be tuned to be greater than 50%. Compared with conventional isolators, this one-way SMP isolator has the advantages of ultra-high isolation, wide relative frequency band, and requires much smaller bias field, which has promising potential in non-reciprocal applications.

Analysis of Cerium-Substituted Yttrium Iron Garnets Using Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry with Preliminary Decomposition in a Microwave System

Analysis of Cerium-Substituted Yttrium Iron Garnets Using Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry with Preliminary Decomposition in a Microwave System

Insights into crystal structure, temperature-dependent magnetization and dielectric relaxation mechanism in Bi substituted samarium iron garnet

The single phase Sm3−xBixFe5O12 with x=0.0,0.2,0.4 and 0.6 samples are synthesized by solid-state reaction method. We have systematically studied the structural, morphological, temperature dependent magnetic and electric properties. All the samples crystallize in simple cubic crystal structure and belongs to Ia3‾d space group. The lattice constant and bond angle between Fe(a)−O−Fe(d) network is enhanced with Bi substitution. As a result, the ferrimagnetic transition temperature is also enhanced from 565K to 569K. We have examined the applicability of Bloch's and Cojocaru's laws to our temperature-dependent magnetization data and find that Bloch's T3/2 law is not suitable due to geometrical asymmetry, long wavelength excitation, and local atomic disorders. However, Cojocaru's law which accounts for the geometrical aspects, provides a better fit to our magnetization data. Further, the impedance plots at room temperature exhibit no relaxation which is attributed to the limited mobility of charge carriers. On the other hand, the high temperature impedance data represents dielectric relaxation at a particular frequency. This frequency is used to determine the relaxation time which is fitted to Arrhenius law and activation energy is evaluated. The activation energy lies in between 0.24−0.32eV which corresponds to the singly ionized oxygen vacancies. The conduction mechanism is analyzed with Variable range hopping model and the average hopping length and hopping energies are also determined for these garnet samples.

Spin-wave diffraction, caustic beam emission, and Talbot carpets in a yttrium iron garnet film with magnonic Fabry-Perot resonator gratings

Spin-wave diffraction, caustic beam emission, and Talbot carpets in a yttrium iron garnet film with magnonic Fabry-Perot resonator gratings

Tailoring Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya Interaction and Spin-Hall Topological Hall Effect in Insulating Magnetic Oxides by Interface Engineering.

Chiral spin textures, as exotic phases in magnetic materials, hold immense promise for revolutionizing logic, and memory applications. Recently, chiral spin textures have been observed in centrosymmetric magnetic insulators (FMI), due to an interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (iDMI). However, the source and origin of this iDMI remain enigmatic in magnetic insulator systems. Here, the source and origin of the iDMI in Pt/Y3Fe5O12 (YIG)/substrate structures are deeply delved by examining the spin-Hall topological Hall effect (SH-THE), an indication of chiral spin textures formed due to an iDMI. Through carefully modifying the interfacial chemical composition of Pt/YIG/substrate with a nonmagnetic Al3+ doping, the obvious dependence of SH-THE on the interfacial chemical composition for both the heavy metal (HM)/FMI and FMI/substrate interfaces is observed. The results reveal that both interfaces contribute to the strength of the iDMI, and the iDMI arises due to strong spin-orbit coupling and inversion symmetry breaking at both interfaces in HM/FMI/substrate. Importantly, it is shown that nonmagnetic substitution and interface engineering can significantly tune the SH-THE and iDMI in ferrimagnetic iron garnets. The approach offers a viable route to tailor the iDMI and associated chiral spin textures in low-damping insulating magnetic oxides, thus advancing the field of spintronics.

Entropy production rate and correlations in a cavity magnomechanical system

We present the irreversibility generated by a stationary cavity magnomechanical system composed of a yttrium iron garnet (YIG) sphere with a diameter of a few hundred micrometers inside a microwave cavity. In this system, the magnons, i.e., collective spin excitations in the sphere, are coupled to the cavity photon mode via magnetic dipole interaction and to the phonon mode via magnetostrictive force (optomechanical-like). We employ the quantum phase-space formulation of the entropy change to evaluate the steady-state entropy production rate and associated quantum correlation in the system. We find that the behavior of the entropy flow between the cavity photon mode and the phonon mode is determined by the magnon-photon coupling and the cavity photon dissipation rate. Interestingly, the entropy production rate can increase/decrease depending on the strength of the magnon-photon coupling and the detuning parameters. We further show that the amount of correlations between the magnon and phonon modes is linked to the irreversibility generated in the system for small magnon-photon coupling. Our results demonstrate the possibility of exploring irreversibility in driven magnon-based hybrid quantum systems and open a promising route for quantum thermal applications. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Emergent chiral spin textures in centrosymmetric iron garnet with spin alignment constraints

Chiral spin textures have emerged as a captivating class of topological matter. These intriguing structures harbor localized and topologically protected magnetic textures, rendering them promising candidates for novel spintronic applications. Here, the emergent chiral spin textures in an iron garnet with nanodisk configuration have been micromagnatically simulated based on the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation (LLG) of COMSOL Multiphysics. The modification of magnetic spin texture in the considered iron garnet has been controlled by introducing the interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (I-DMI) and spin alignment constraints as locally pinned spins and curvilinear defects at edges. These boundary conditions induced interesting chiral textures not commonly observed in such iron garnet due to its centrosymmetric crystal structure. The simulation results showed the presence of two distinct regions of spin texture: inside and outside the pinning boundary. By systematically varying the DMI strength (D) with the size of the pinning boundary (Rpin) and the number of defects (Ndef), the emerging chiral spin textures have been explored and reported, including the existence of ramified helical stripes, skyrmions, and skyrmions-like textures such as elongated skyrmions, chiral horseshoe domains, biskyrmions and target skyrmions (TSk) (2π-TSk and 3π-TSk). Also, it has been reported that various collapses occur in the final spin texture states, leading to the transition from one state to another when varying the values of Rpin and Ndef with D.

Exploring bismuth-substituted yttrium iron garnet: Insights into structural, optical, and dielectric characteristics

Magnetic garnets, a diverse group of magnetic insulating materials, have been the subject of extensive research for decades, owing to their versatility and potential for a wide range of applications. In this study, we synthesized Bismuth-Substituted Yttrium Iron Garnet (BiY2Fe5O12: BiYIG) using the solid-state reaction method to explore its structural, optical, and dielectric characteristics. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed the attainment of a pure cubic garnet phase in BiYIG, with a lattice parameter of 12.444 Å. Using UV–visible spectroscopy, we determined that the optical band gap of BiYIG is 2.2 eV, indicating n-type semiconductor behavior. We conducted a thorough investigation of the dielectric properties, examining capacitance, dielectric constant, dielectric loss, conductivity, impedance, and modulus, as functions of frequency and temperature. The impedance results revealed that the dielectric relaxation at room temperature was dominated by a Debye-type process, with a shift to a non-Debye-type process becoming apparent as temperature increased. Comprehensive analysis sheds light on the material's transport phenomena and optical attributes, offering insights into the potential of BiYIG for applications in magneto-dielectric and magneto-optical domains, given its high dielectric constant with low dielectric loss, and promising optical properties. These findings position BiYIG as a versatile material and underscore its suitability for advanced applications in future technological developments.

Detection of entanglement by harnessing extracted work in magnomechanics

The connections between thermodynamics and quantum information processing are of paramount importance. Here, we address a bipartite entanglement via extracted work in a cavity magnomechanical system contained inside an yttrium iron garnet (YIG) sphere. The photons and magnons interact through an interaction between magnetic dipoles. A magnetostrictive interaction, analogous to radiation pressure, couple’s phonons and magnons. The extracted work was obtained through a device similar to the Szilárd engine. This engine operates by manipulating the photon–magnon as a bipartite quantum state. We employ logarithmic negativity to measure the amount of entanglement between photon and magnon modes in steady and dynamical states. We explore the extracted work, separable work, and maximum work for squeezed thermal states. We investigate the amount of work extracted from a bipartite quantum state, which can potentially determine the degree of entanglement present in that state. Numerical studies show that entanglement, as detected by the extracted work and quantified by logarithmic negativity, are in good agreement. We show the reduction of extracted work by a second measurement compared to a single measurement. Also, the efficiency of the Szilárd engine in steady and dynamical states is investigated. We hope this work is of paramount importance in quantum information processing.

Nonreciprocal Pancharatnam-Berry metasurface for unidirectional wavefront manipulations.

Optical metasurfaces employing the Pancharatnam-Berry (PB) geometric phase, called PB metasurfaces, have been extensively applied to realize spin-dependent light manipulations. However, the properties of conventional PB metasurfaces are intrinsically limited by the Lorentz reciprocity. Breaking reciprocity can give rise to new properties and phenomena unavailable in conventional reciprocal systems. Here, we propose a mechanism to realize nonreciprocal PB metasurfaces of subwavelength thickness by using the Faraday magneto-optical (FMO) effect of yttrium iron garnet (YIG) material in synergy with the PB geometric phase of spatially rotating meta-atoms. Using full-wave numerical simulations and multipole analysis, we show that the metasurface composed of dielectric cylinders and a thin YIG layer can achieve high isolation of circularly polarized lights, attributed to the enhancement of the magneto-optical effect by the resonant Mie modes and Fabry-Pérot (FP) cavity mode. In addition, the metasurface can enable unidirectional wavefront manipulations of circularly polarized lights, including nonreciprocal beam steering and nonreciprocal beam focusing. The results contribute to the understanding of the interplay between nonreciprocity and geometric phase in light manipulations and can find applications in optical communications, optical sensing, and quantum information processing.

Magnetic anisotropy and GGG substrate stray field in YIG films down to millikelvin temperatures

Quantum magnonics investigates the quantum-mechanical properties of magnons, such as quantum coherence or entanglement for solid-state quantum information technologies at the nanoscale. The most promising material for quantum magnonics is the ferrimagnetic yttrium iron garnet (YIG), which hosts magnons with the longest lifetimes. YIG films of the highest quality are grown on a paramagnetic gadolinium gallium garnet (GGG) substrate. The literature has reported that ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) frequencies of YIG/GGG decrease at temperatures below 50 K despite the increase in YIG magnetization. We investigated a 97 nm-thick YIG film grown on 500 μm-thick GGG substrate through a series of experiments conducted at temperatures as low as 30 mK, and using both analytical and numerical methods. Our findings suggest that the primary factor contributing to the FMR frequency shift is the stray magnetic field created by the partially magnetized GGG substrate. This stray field is antiparallel to the applied external field and is highly inhomogeneous, reaching up to 40 mT in the center of the sample. At temperatures below 500 mK, the GGG field exhibits a saturation that cannot be described by the standard Brillouin function for a paramagnet. Including the calculated GGG field in the analysis of the FMR frequency versus temperature dependence allowed the determination of the cubic and uniaxial anisotropies. We find that the total crystallographic anisotropy increases more than three times with the decrease in temperature down to 2 K. Our findings enable accurate predictions of the YIG/GGG magnetic systems behavior at low and ultralow millikelvin temperatures, crucial for developing quantum magnonic devices.

Large-scale fabrication of thulium iron garnet film with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy using RF magnetron sputtering

Large-scale fabrication of thulium iron garnet (TmIG) films on gadolinium gallium garnet (GGG) substrates, with a total area of 25 cm2, has been demonstrated by rotating substrate holders during on-axis sputtering. By optimizing the growth parameters based on the pressure and flow rate of the oxygen ratio, a Tm/Fe ratio of 0.65 was obtained, which is close to the stoichiometry of TmIG. The increase in post-annealing temperature has induced the growth of the TmIG structure by the strain of the lattice constant mechanism. At the highest post-annealing temperature, the crystal structure of TmIG (444) and the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) were obtained. This result demonstrates the potential method for large-scale fabrication of TmIG film with PMA.

Room temperature photon-magnon coupling in YIG- electric field coupled resonator system

This study presents a planar hybrid system consisting of an electric-field-coupled resonator (ELCR) and yttrium iron garnet (YIG) film, designed to investigate the interaction between photons and magnons at room temperature. This hybrid system has been designed and simulated using the commercial electromagnetic full-wave simulator CST Microwave Studio. The phenomenon of anti-crossing between the photon mode of the ELCR and the magnon modes of the YIG was observed by analyzing the |S21|-versus-frequency spectrum under varying strengths of bias magnetic fields. We present a comprehensive theoretical framework that explains the observed anti-crossing effect resulting from photon-magnon coupling (PMC) and provide estimations for the strength of PMC (Δ). Additionally, the interaction between photons and magnons was manipulated through two distinct methods: by adjusting the thickness (tYIG) of the YIG film and by positioning the YIG films along the microstripline. For the ELCR (for tYIG = 25 μm), Δ comes to 58 MHz, while changing tYIG from 2 μm to 50 μm, enabling more precise control of the Δ parameter across the span of 17 MHz to 84 MHz. Similarly, the YIG positioning at a different location along the microstripline allowed manipulation of Δ from 5 to 50 MHz. The resultant PMC can be significantly tuned by 400% to 900% in a planar-geometry ELCR-YIG hybrid system. This research offers avenues for developing innovative hybrid systems that afford greater control over the magnitude of PMC in a planar configuration, representing a promising direction for future advancements in hybrid magnonic systems.

Magnon‐Squeezing‐Enhanced Phonon Lasering in Cavity Magnomechanics

AbstractPhonon lasers have long been a subject of interest and possess broad application prospects. Much effort is devoted to lay the foundation of realizing phonon lasers using cavity magnomechanical systems, but up to now no related work is carried out to explore the quantum‐squeezing‐engineered phonon laser action in cavity magnomechanics. Here, the phonon laser action is investigated in a three‐mode cavity magnomechanical system built based on a microwave resonator‐yttrium iron garnet sphere composite device, focusing on the effect induced by the magnon‐mode squeezing. It is found that the magnon squeezing can improve the effective magnon–photon and magnon–phonon coupling rates. It is demonstrated that the phonon laser action can be engineered and enhanced by changing the squeezing strength. This scheme provides a new mechanism to improve the effective magnon–photon and magnon–phonon couplings for various applications, and demonstrates the feasibility of realizing high‐gain and low‐threshold phonon lasers with cavity magnomechanical platforms.

Ultra-compact microring optical isolator using an aluminum-substituted cobalt ferrite thin film

Yttrium iron garnets, which are typically used as magneto-optical isolators, are not suitable for monolithic integration with photonic circuits. We experimentally demonstrated an ultracompact microring optical isolator using an aluminum-substituted cobalt ferrite (CAFO) thin film directly deposited on silicon waveguides. The device footprint was only 43×71µm2. The isolator can operate without an external magnet owing to the strong remanent magnetization of the CAFO film and achieved a maximum isolation ratio of 24.7 dB at a wavelength of 1545.7 nm. Our study could facilitate integration of nonreciprocal photonic devices on Si platforms.