Microstructure and magneto-optical properties of CoFe1.9RE0.1O4 nanocrystalline films on quartz substrates

A novel family of composited oxides, Co–RE ferrites (RE=rare earth), has been fabricated on quartz substrates by a sol-gel method. The studies on the microstructure and magneto-optical effects of the Co–RE ferrite films were carried out. It has been found that the doping of Co ferrite with Yb or Lu ion notably enhance the magneto-optical rotations in the spectral range of 350–420 nm, which made them very promising to be used for magneto-optical recording at short wavelengths in the future.