Perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in ultrathin yttrium iron garnet films prepared by pulsed laser deposition technique

A series of thin and ultrathin polycrystalline yttrium iron garnet (YIG) films was prepared on quartz substrates by the pulsed laser deposition technique to study the effects of dimensional changes on the magnetic properties. The lattice cells of the samples were found to be distorted due to thermal induced stresses and structurals defects. The ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) data showed that the films thinner than 200 Å were homogeneous as compared to thicker films which consist of two regions. The shape anisotropy energy was reduced in ultrathin films due to reduced magnetization.