Growth of BiYIG films from MoO3–containing fluxes

Abstract

For liquid phase epitaxial (LPE) growth of BiYIG films, MoO3 is shown to be a flux modifier that increases Bi content xBi, and growth-induced anisotropy Ku8, for MoO3 flux concentrations up to 12 mol %. The addition of MoO3 to PbO–Bi2O3 fluxed garnet melts caused the saturation temperature to increase at a rate of 7 deg/mol % while growth rates decreased. For a given amount of supercooling, ΔTs, xBi increased with MoO3 flux content up to 12 mol %. A linear dependence of xBi on ΔTs, was observed for all MoO3 concentration levels. The anisotropy increased both with supercooling and with MoO3 flux concentration. The Kgu can be represented by a two-variable model, Kgu = A +BxBi + C4IIMs, where B increases from 143–213 kerg/cm3 per Bi atom per formula unit as the MoO3 content of the flux increases from 0–12 mol %. The density of the melt decreases with increased MoO3 content. A melt based on a 15 mol % MoO3 flux is less dense than gadolinium gallium garnet.