TY - JOUR
T1 - Systematic control of stress-induced anisotropy in pseudomorphic iron garnet thin films
AU - Kubota, M.
AU - Shibuya, K.
AU - Tokunaga, Y.
AU - Kagawa, F.
AU - Tsukazaki, A.
AU - Tokura, Y.
AU - Kawasaki, M.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) through the “Funding Program for World-Leading Innovative R&D on Science and Technology (FIRST Program),” initiated by the Council for Science and Technology Policy (CSTP). A part of this work was conducted in the Research Hub for Advanced Nano-Characterization, The University of Tokyo, supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), Japan.
PY - 2013/8
Y1 - 2013/8
N2 - Iron garnets are one of the most well-studied magnetic materials that enabled magnetic bubble memories and magneto-optical devices employing films with a perpendicular easy axis. However, most studies have been conducted on rather thick films (>1 μm), and it has not been elucidated whether it is possible to align the magnetic easy axis perpendicular to the film plane for much thinner (<100 nm) films by overcoming shape anisotropy. We studied the effects of epitaxial strain and film composition on the magnetic properties of 50-nm-thick garnet thin films grown by pulsed-laser deposition. Y 3Fe5O12 was selected as the most prototypical garnet and Sm3-xTmxFe5O12 (x=1, 2, 3) was selected in view of its negatively large magnetostriction constants. We employed (111) planes of single crystalline Gd3Ga5O 12 and (CaGd)3(MgGaZr)5O12 substrates to tune the epitaxial strain. Thin films with a pseudomorphic structure were fabricated with the in-plane strain (ε//) ranging from -1.5% to +0.5%, corresponding to the stress-induced anisotropy field (HA) ranging from -40 kOe to +25 kOe, respectively. The magnetization ratio of the out-of-plane to in-plane component (M⊥/M //) systematically varied in accord with HA, yielding M⊥/M// >1 for thin films with HA values larger than 20 kOe. Among the films grown, Tm3Fe5O 12 on Gd3Ga5O12 showed the largest ε// and HA values of +0.5% and +25 kOe, respectively, to realize an apparently perpendicular easy axis, confirmed by a large M ⊥/M// value of 7.8. Further, magnetic force microscope images showed a maze pattern typical of a perpendicularly magnetized film. These results reveal a method for tailoring the magnetic anisotropy of garnet ultrathin films by utilizing epitaxial strain. These thin films may be utilized to obtain nanoscale magnetic bubbles for use in novel devices.
AB - Iron garnets are one of the most well-studied magnetic materials that enabled magnetic bubble memories and magneto-optical devices employing films with a perpendicular easy axis. However, most studies have been conducted on rather thick films (>1 μm), and it has not been elucidated whether it is possible to align the magnetic easy axis perpendicular to the film plane for much thinner (<100 nm) films by overcoming shape anisotropy. We studied the effects of epitaxial strain and film composition on the magnetic properties of 50-nm-thick garnet thin films grown by pulsed-laser deposition. Y 3Fe5O12 was selected as the most prototypical garnet and Sm3-xTmxFe5O12 (x=1, 2, 3) was selected in view of its negatively large magnetostriction constants. We employed (111) planes of single crystalline Gd3Ga5O 12 and (CaGd)3(MgGaZr)5O12 substrates to tune the epitaxial strain. Thin films with a pseudomorphic structure were fabricated with the in-plane strain (ε//) ranging from -1.5% to +0.5%, corresponding to the stress-induced anisotropy field (HA) ranging from -40 kOe to +25 kOe, respectively. The magnetization ratio of the out-of-plane to in-plane component (M⊥/M //) systematically varied in accord with HA, yielding M⊥/M// >1 for thin films with HA values larger than 20 kOe. Among the films grown, Tm3Fe5O 12 on Gd3Ga5O12 showed the largest ε// and HA values of +0.5% and +25 kOe, respectively, to realize an apparently perpendicular easy axis, confirmed by a large M ⊥/M// value of 7.8. Further, magnetic force microscope images showed a maze pattern typical of a perpendicularly magnetized film. These results reveal a method for tailoring the magnetic anisotropy of garnet ultrathin films by utilizing epitaxial strain. These thin films may be utilized to obtain nanoscale magnetic bubbles for use in novel devices.
KW - Epitaxial strain
KW - Iron garnet
KW - Magnetic anisotropy
KW - Pulsed-laser deposition (PLD)
KW - Thin film
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jmmm.2013.02.045
DO - 10.1016/j.jmmm.2013.02.045
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84876797652
VL - 339
SP - 63
EP - 70
JO - Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials
JF - Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials
SN - 0304-8853
ER -