Effects of annealing on highly damaged bubble garnet layers ion implanted with Xe and As

The magnetic and structural properties of amorphized (YSmLuCa)3(FeGe)5O12 garnet layers created through As+ (120 keV; 1×1016 As+ cm−2), Xe+ (200 keV; 3×1015 Xe+ cm−2) and Xe+ (200 keV; 1×1016 Xe+ cm−2) bombardment are studied as a function of annealing temperature. Ferromagnetic resonance (FMR), reflection high energy electron diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy have been used to characterize damaged layers just after implantation and after subsequent isochronal annealings. The general feature of the crystalline rebuilding mechanism is quite identical to previous results on Fe+ implanted films. However, a more thorough comparison of As and Xe implanted films after annealing at 800 °C shows drastic differences in properties. The recrystallized layers have better structural and magnetic properties versus depth for the Xe than for the As implantations. The reason for this difference can be explained by the presence of FeAsO4 aggregates in the As implanted layer. An application of Xe implantation is presented, showing the ion mixing effect of Xe+ of heterogeneous transient layer by secondary ion mass spectrometry.