Low-damping sub-10-nm thin films of lutetium iron garnet grown by molecular-beam epitaxy

We analyze the structural and magnetic characteristics of (111)-oriented lutetium irongarnet (Lu3Fe5O12)filmsgrown bymolecular-beam epitaxy, forfilms as thin as 2.8  nm. Thickness-dependent measurements of the in- and out-of-plane ferromagnetic resonance allow us to quantify the effects of two-magnon scattering, along with the surface anisotropy and the saturation magnetization. We achieve effective damping coefficients of11.1(9)×10−4 for 5.3  nmfilms and32(3)×10−4 for 2.8  nmfilms, among the lowest values reported to date for any insulating ferrimagnetic sample of comparable thickness.

Source: Applied Physics Letters - November 9, 2016 Category: Physics Authors: C. L. Jermain, H. Paik, S. V. Aradhya, R. A. Buhrman, D. G. Schlom and D. C. Ralph Source Type: research