Fabrication and characteristics of Ce‐doped Y 3 Fe 5 O 12 ceramics by hot‐press sintering with oxygen/nitrogen atmosphere

Abstract Infrared transparent Ce‐doped Y 3 Fe 5 O 12 (Ce : YIG, Ce x Y 3‐x Fe 5 O 12, x = 0, 0.12, 0.24, 0.36) ceramics were successfully produced by the solid‐state reaction using a hot‐press sintering process from the Y 2 O 3 , Fe 2 O 3 , and CeO 2 powders. The phase structure, microstructure, infrared transmittance, and magnetic and magneto‐optical properties of the Ce‐doped Y 3 Fe 5 O 12 ceramics were measured and analyzed. The in‐line transmittances of the Ce‐doped Y 3 Fe 5 O 12 ceramics with the x = 0, 0.12, 0.24 (L = 0.5 mm) at 1550 nm were about 72%, 66.5%, and 57.6%, respectively. In the state of saturation magnetization, the Faraday rotation angle per centimeter (θ F ) of Ce x Y 3‐x Fe 5 O 12 (x = 0, 0.12, 0.24) ceramics measured by the light extinction method was 182.5, −410.4, and −958.3 deg./cm, respectively. The change of the θ F was about −142.5 deg./cm when per 1at.% Ce was substituted in the dodecahedral site of YIG materials. The (Ce 0.24 Y 2.76 )Fe 5 O 12 ceramics were determined as the optimized composition for its excellent infrared optical and magneto‐optical properties.