Growth and magneto-optical properties of Bi-substituted lutetium iron garnet films

Epitaxial (Lu,Bi)(3)(Fe,Ga)(5)O-12 films were grown on GGG (111) orientated and GGG(100) orientated substrates by the LPE method over a wide temperature range. Epitaxial growth, surface morphology, chemical composition as well as magneto-optical properties of the films were investigated by TEM, AFM, EDAX, and polarization optical microscopy. The magnetic anisotropy of the films, lattice mismatch as well as Bi concentration in the films is also discussed. The films exhibit in-plane or out-of-plane magnetization, depending on growth temperatures. The Bi concentration in the grown films and saturation magnetization field also exhibit a dependence on growth temperatures. When the film is very thin, its coercivity will increase and the orientation of magnetization transits from out-of-plane to in-plane.