Characterisation of bismuth-doped yttrium iron garnet layers prepared by sol-gel process

Yttrium iron garnets and Bi-substituted yttrium iron garnets were prepared by two different sol-gel processes. We investigated the evolution with temp erature of XRD patterns and of the magnetisation of powders issued from sol -gel solution decomposition. We prepared layers on silica glass by the spin - or dip-coating processes, XRD patterns on layers were also obtained. The dependency of the Faraday effect upon the light wavelength and Bi amount wa s shown. The main result is the possibility to prepare stable sol-gel solut ions containing bismuth, yttrium and iron precursors which lead to garnet p hase after annealing at low temperature. These bismuth-doped garnet phases give the expected magneto-optical properties. These processes are promising for the preparation of inexpensive magneto-optical recording media. (C) 20 00 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.