Effect of Annealing on the Structural and FMR Properties of Epitaxial YIG Thin Films Grown by RF Magnetron Sputtering

The growth- and frequency-dependent microwave studies on ~250 nm thick Y
₃
Fe
₅
O
₁₂
[yttrium iron garnet (YIG)] films deposited on Gd
₃
Ga
₅
O
₁₂
(111) (gadolinium gallium garnet) substrates by RF magnetron sputtering has been reported. After the deposition, the thin films were ex-situ annealed in air at 700°C for different time intervals (2, 4, 6, and 10 h) and a pure YIG phase with preferred (111) orientation was formed. Effective saturation magnetization (4π M
_eff
) has been estimated from ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) data using Kittel's equations. A negative uniaxial magnetic anisotropy has been observed which decreased with the increase in annealing time. The FMR linewidth (ΔH) for the 10 h annealed film was found to be nearly half of the one annealed for 2 h. The 10 h annealed film showed a ΔH value which lies between 30 and 50 Oe over a wide frequency range (2-18 GHz). This improvement in the microwave properties as a result of annealing is attributed to the reduction of defects and relaxation of stress.