Influence of bismuth substitution on yttrium orthoferrite thin films preparation by the MOD method

Abstract Yttrium orthoferrite thin films with a thickness of about 0.4 μm were prepared on glass substrates by using a metal-organic decomposition method. Our studies reveal that it is possible to reduce the crystallization temperature of the yttrium orthoferrite by the substitution of the yttrium ion with bismuth. For the samples BixY1−xFeO3 with x=0.3 and x=0.4, orthorhombic yttrium orthoferrite characteristic peaks in the X-ray diffraction spectra have been detected. The lattice constants of the Bi0.3Y0.7FeO3 film were a=5.905 A, b=7.66 A, c=5.256 A with an average grain size of about 40 nm. The magnetization data indicate that the film has in-plane easy axis and weak coercivity which might be explained by a possible secondary garnet phase crystallization. Faraday rotation angle of the sample was measured to be about 0.3°/µm.