Anisotropy effects of ion-implanted iron, manganese, and argon on high-purity YIG

The objective of this research was to investigate anisotropy effects of implanted ions in the end-of-path region. Argon, manganese, and iron were implanted with doses of 1×1015 and 2×1016 ions/cm2 at energies of 60–190 keV. The resulting changes in X-band ferromagnetic resonance spectra were used to develop models for the magnetization and uniaxial anisotropy in the implanted surface region. These models indicate a correlation between the location of the peak in the dose profile and a change in the uniaxial anisotropy and magnetization. This effect persists after annealing has removed most of the surface damage and restored the magnetic nature of the damage region. Implantation generates an amorphous surface layer whose magnetic nature can be restored to almost bulk properties by annealing in the case of argon, but not for manganese or iron. The thickness of the amorphous layer as a function of annealing time is also quite dependent on which ion is implanted, the energy of implantation, and the dose level.