R&D: Growth of High Quality Si-based (Gd2Ce)(Fe4Ga)O12 Thin Film and Prospects as Magnetic Recording Media

Journal of Alloys and Compounds has published an article written by Nanxi Lin, Youzhi Lin, College of Chemistry, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou 350108, China, and Institute of Optical Crystalline Materials, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou 350108, China, Guanjie Wu, Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Ultra-Precision Optical Manufacturing, Department of Optical Science and Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China, Xin Chen, College of Chemistry, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou 350108, China, and Institute of Optical Crystalline Materials, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou 350108, China, Zongzhi Zhang, Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Ultra-Precision Optical Manufacturing, Department of Optical Science and Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China, Xiaolin Hu, and Naifeng Zhuan, College of Chemistry, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou 350108, China, and Institute of Optical Crystalline Materials, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou 350108, China.

Abstract: “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 ℃ 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.“