Growth of high quality Si-based (Gd2Ce)(Fe4Ga)O12 thin film and prospects as a magnetic recording media

Ce3+-doped rare-earth iron garnet is a hot magneto-optical material in the field of optical communication and information technology. However, the integration of magneto-optical devices has encountered difficulties due to the poor-quality film deposited on Si. This paper focuses on high-quality Si-based (Gd2Ce) Fe5O12 and (Gd2Ce)(Fe4Ga)O12 thin films by using radio frequency magnetron sputtering method. It was found that the introduction of Ga3+ ions can protect Ce3+ from oxidation, stabilize the garnet phase, improve the optical transmittance, and reduce the lattice mismatch between the thin film and the Si substrate. And heating the substrate at 500 celcius is conducive to grow high-quality Si-based films. The (Gd2Ce)(Fe4Ga)O12/Si thin film has the strong Kerr magneto-optical effect and the pretty high coercivity. Moreover, this film has the obvious out-of-plane magnetic anisotropy and its vertical matrix ratio close to 1, which indicates that it has the considerable prospects for high-density perpendicular magnetic recording. (c) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Ce3+-doped rare-earth iron garnet is a popular magneto-optical material in the field of optical communication and information technology. This study focused on preparing high-quality Si-based (Gd2Ce)Fe5O12 and (Gd2Ce)(Fe4Ga)O12 thin films, showing that introducing Ga3+ ions can improve the optical transmittance and stability of the films, and reduce the lattice mismatch with the Si substrate. Heating the substrate to 500 degrees Celsius is beneficial for growing high-quality Si-based films, which is crucial for the integration of magneto-optical devices.