Magneto-optical properties of a sputtered Bi-substituted Dy-Fe garnet-ferrite/hematite bilayer

Rapid thermal annealing was performed after a Bismuth-substituted Dy iron g arnet-ferrite (Bi2DyFe4GaO12) was deposited on a quartz glass substrate hav ing a hematite underlayer, and the effect of the hematite underlayer on the magneto-optical characteristics of the garnet ferrite film was evaluated. The presence of the underlayer greatly improved the magneto-optical effect of the garnet film, but the amount of improvement depended on the hematite phase. Big improvement was obtained using underlayer phases that are easily crystallized, i.e., Fe3O4 and gamma-Fe2O3 which have a spinel structure, b ut not with alpha-Fe2O3 which has a corundum structure. (C) 1999 American I nstitute of Physics. [S0021-8979(99)21508-3].