Properties of Exchange Coupled All-garnet Magneto-Optic Thin Film Multilayer Structures

The effects of exchange coupling on magnetic switching properties of all-garnet multilayer thin film structures are investigated. All-garnet structures are fabricated by sandwiching a magneto-soft material of composition type Bi Lu Fe Al O or Bi₃Fe₅O :Dy₂O₃ in between two magneto-hard garnet material layers of composition type Bi₂Dy₁Fe₄Ga₁O or Bi₂Dy₁Fe₄Ga₁O :Bi₂O₃. The fabricated RF magnetron sputtered exchange-coupled all-garnet multilayers demonstrate a very attractive combination of magnetic properties, and are of interest for emerging applications in optical sensors and isolators, ultrafast nanophotonics and magneto-plasmonics. An unconventional type of magnetic hysteresis behavior not observed previously in magnetic garnet thin films is reported and discussed.