Untangling the contributions of cerium and iron to the magnetism of Ce-doped yttrium iron garnet

The remarkable magnetic properties of yttrium iron garnets (YIGs) underpin the use of these materials in a broad scope of spintronic and photonic applications. In particular, the addition of rare earth metals in the structure enhances to a great extent the magneto-optical activity, which is beneficial for the development of nonreciprocal optical devices. Exploiting the wavelength selectivity of magneto-optics, we have identified a range of frequencies at which one can unravel the individual contributions to the magnetism and gyrotropic response arising from cerium and iron. We envision that this outcome may pave the way to further experiments to assess quantitatively the effect on the optical properties of rare earth incorporation into YIG. (C) 2016 AIP Publishing LLC.