Magnetic and structural properties of epitaxial Er-substituted yttrium iron garnet films grown by pulsed laser deposition

• URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2511.06324v1
• Date: Sun, 09 Nov 2025 10:59:44 GMT
• Title: Magnetic and structural properties of epitaxial Er-substituted yttrium iron garnet films grown by pulsed laser deposition
• Authors: Lukas Flajsman, Lars Peeters, Armi Kosunen, Lide Yao, Ionela Vrejoiu, Sebastiaan van Dijken,
• Abstract summary: Er-substituted yttrium iron garnet (Er:YIG) holds the potential of combining the low magnetic damping of YIG with the telecom-band optical transitions.<n>X-ray diffraction, reciprocal space mapping, and scanning transmission electron microscopy confirm single-phase, fully coherent growth with atomically sharp interfaces.
• Score: 0.0
• License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Abstract: Er-substituted yttrium iron garnet (Er:YIG) holds the potential of combining the low magnetic damping of YIG with the telecom-band optical transitions of $\text{Er}^{3+}$ ions, making it a suitable material for hybrid optomagnonic devices and microwave-to-optical quantum transduction. We report the epitaxial growth of $\text{Er}_{x}\text{Y}_{3-x}\text{Fe}_{5}\text{O}_{12}$ films with $x=0.008-0.20$ on (111)-oriented gadolinium gallium garnet (GGG) substrates using pulsed laser deposition. X-ray diffraction, reciprocal space mapping, and scanning transmission electron microscopy confirm single-phase, fully coherent growth with atomically sharp interfaces across the entire substitution range. Magnetometry reveals a gradual decrease in saturation magnetization with increasing Er content, consistent with antiparallel coupling between Er$^{3+}$ spins and the net Fe$^{3+}$ moments, along with the emergence of an in-plane uniaxial magnetic anisotropy. The ferromagnetic resonance broadens with Er concentration due to increased Gilbert damping and inhomogeneous linewidth broadening. Films with low Er content ($x=0.008$), most relevant for optomagnonic applications, retain nearly isotropic magnetization and exhibit a damping parameter only slightly higher than that of undoped YIG. These results identify growth and substitution conditions that preserve YIG's low-loss magnetic properties while introducing optical functionality, establishing Er:YIG as a viable platform for hybrid quantum magnonics and microwave-to-optical transduction.

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