EFG growth and optical properties of incongruent-melting Ga3+:GIG single crystal

Abstract Ga-doped Gd 3 Fe 5 O 12 (GIG) single-crystals with various doping concentration were successfully grown by the edge-defined film fed growth (EFG) technique. XRD pattern and SEM micrographs confirm that the as-grown crystal is in the single GIG phase with good crystal quality. The success of growing Ga:GIG crystal by using EFG method provide a new way to grow the single crystal of the incongruent melting compound. The magnetic parameters such as the Curie temperature T c , the saturation magnetization M s , the magnetic coercivity H c , the magnetic saturation field H s , the Faraday rotation angle of as-grown crystals were measured. After as-grown crystal was annealed at 800 °C in oxygen atmosphere, the optical transmittance can be significantly enhanced. The reason for the change of the saturation magnetization M s before and after annealing is also discussed.