In-plane magnetization with high coercivity in terbium iron garnet thin films deposited on Pt/Si substrate by PLD

We report on the growth of terbium iron garnet (TbIG, Tb3Fe5O12) thin films having anomalously large coercivity and in-plane easy axis of magnetization. The TbIG thin films were prepared at room temperature (RT) on Pt/Si(1 0 0) substrates by pulsed laser deposition technique. The films deposited at RT were X-ray amorphous and do not show any magnetic order. Annealing of the RT deposited film at 900 °C resulted into fully textured (532) TbIG film. Atomic force microscopy and cross-sectional scanning electron microscopy studies of the TbIG films showed good surface quality with an average surface roughness of 5.0 nm and thickness of about 300 nm, respectively. The M–H loops measured at 20 K for TbIG films, exhibit about an order of magnitude enhancement in the coercivity value (Hc) than the single crystal. In-plane and out-of-plane M–H loops revealed that the easy axis of the magnetization lies within the film’s plane. In-plane magnetization combining with large Hc value of the TbIG thin film may be of scientific interest for the possible applications.