Structural and magnetic properties of YIG thin films deposited by pulsed laser deposition and RF magnetron sputtering technique

Yttrium iron garnet (YIG) has been extensively explored for its potential avenues in spintronic applications. A majority of these studies employ thin films grown by PLD at high substrate temperature, which generally leads to an interfacial dead layer with cations interdiffusion hindering their technological implications. In this communication, we report the growth of YIG thin films at room temperature by PLD and RF sputtering techniques. Detailed structural investigation confirms the thin films’ single-phase growth and epitaxial nature. We have a further detailed investigation of magnetic properties by dc magnetization, magneto-optical Kerr effect and FMR techniques. Although our thin films exhibit a comparatively lower magnetic performance in terms of saturation magnetization and damping constant, we have obtained a significantly lower interfacial dead layer thickness of ∼1 nm, which is quite promising for spin transport applications. The present study, therefore, calls for future studies for simultaneous optimization of magnetic performance and interfacial dead layer with room temperature grown YIG thin films by both PLD and RF sputtering methods.