Investigation of Cerium-Substituted Europium Iron Garnets Deposited by Biased Target Ion Beam Deposition

We report on the deposition, crystallization, and magnetic properties of cerium-substituted europium iron garnet having the general form of (CeEu)₃(FeGa)₅O₁₂. The films were deposited on gallium gadolinium garnet and fused quartz substrates using biased target ion beam deposition at a rate of 2.7 nm/min. The Ce:EIG thin film has a composition of Ce_1.3Eu_1.7Fe₃Ga_1.6O₁₂, with 30% of the Ce in the 4+ oxidation state and the remainder as Ce³⁺. The film exhibits the primary peaks of the garnet phase in X-ray diffraction patterns. In the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum, the film on GGG exhibits a Faraday rotation of 3.3°/μm with coercivity of 0.58 kOe, whereas the film on fused quartz exhibits 1.1°/μm with a coercivity of 0.8 kOe. The film on the fused quartz substrate has a saturation magnetization of 17 emu/cm³ at room temperature.