Liquid Phase Epitaxial Growth of (Bi, Lu)3(Fe, Ga)5O12 Films with In-Plane Anisotropy for Magneto-Optical Imaging

The key factors in the liquid phase epitaxial growth of (Bi, Lu)3(Fe, Ga)5O12 garnet films with in-plane anisotropy for magneto-optical imaging, MOI, have been investigated. The role of stress induced magnetic anisotropy caused by the lattice misfit between the film and substrate, in particular, was examined. We found that it was necessary to control precisely the lattice misfit in the operating temperature region of the MOI indicator. The (100) orientation of Gd3Ga5O12(GGG) substrates is preferable to the (111) orientation for the fabrication of in-plane films in case of the same saturation magnetization. By using the film, magnetic flux penetration through the grain boundaries of an Y–Ba–Cu–O bulk sample was observed clearly with high resolution.