Determination of magnetic anisotropy constants for magnetic garnet epitaxial films using ferromagnetic resonance

The constants of magnetocrystalline anisotropy K-l and uniaxial anisotropy K-u are determined precisely by using ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) and a fitting procedure oil a (1 1 1) yttrium iron garnet (YIG) film made by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique. By applying a magnetic field in the azimuthal orientation we introduce measurement in a geometry which yields the anisotropy constants with a high accuracy. The new technique is compared with the previous analysis employing characteristic plane measurements. The new geometry yields at least 15% better accuracy in determining constant K, than by the previous method with FMR. (C) 2004 Published by Elsevier B.V.