ESR and X-ray diffraction measurements of Nd substituted yttrium aluminum garnet films

Yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) layers, doped with some rare-earth ions can b e used as thin film solid-state lasers. Thin films of Nd3+-doped YAG have b een grown on undoped YAG substrates by the isothermal liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) dipping technique. The layers have been obtained from a supercooled m olten garnet-flux high temperature solution. Y3-xNdxAl5O12 films (2-30 mu m ) grown on the (111) plane of YAG substrate have been investigated as a fun ction of neodymium concentration using electron spin resonance (ESR) and X- ray diffraction techniques. According to those measurements it can be concl uded that the obtained thin films possess high quality. (C) 2000 Elsevier S cience S.A. All rights reserved.