Strong enhancement of the Faraday rotation in Ce and Bi comodified epitaxial iron garnet thin films

Ce and Bi comodified iron garnet ( Ce 2.2 Bi 0.8 Fe 5 O 12 ) thin films for magneto-optic applications were epitaxially grown on a (111)-oriented Gd 3 Ga 5 O 12 substrate by pulsed laser deposition. We found that epitaxial film quality could be achieved under a low-pressure Ar atmosphere. Surprisingly, our 1 μ m thick epitaxial films showed a record Faraday rotation as high as 0.55 deg / μ m , a value strongly dependent on the concentration of Bi 3 + ions.