Ce-substituted yttrium iron garnet films prepared on Gd3Sc2Ga3O12 garnet substrates by sputter epitaxy

Ce-substituted yttrium iron garnet films are epitaxially grown in situ on (111)-oriented substrates of Gd3Sc2Ga3O12 garnet by conventional rf diode sputtering for application to magneto-optic waveguide devices in optical communication systems. The lattice constant of the substrates is larger than that of the previously used (Gd,Ca)3(Ga,Mg,Zr)5O12 garnet substrates whose lattice constant is smaller than that of the films. The lowest ever reported propagation losses of 9.7 dB/cm in the TE mode and 5.8 dB/cm in the TM mode are obtained for a film thickness of 0.5 μm at λ=1.55 μm.