Controlling the magnetic anisotropy in epitaxial Y3Fe5O12 films by manganese doping

Controlling the magnetic anisotropy in epitaxial ${\mathrm{Y}}_{3}\mathrm{F}{\mathrm{e}}_{5}{\mathrm{O}}_{12}$ (YIG) thin films is critical for magnonic and photonic device applications. In this paper, we report the crystal structure, magnetic properties, and magnetic anisotropy of epitaxial ${\mathrm{Y}}_{3}(\mathrm{F}{\mathrm{e}}_{5\ensuremath{-}x}\mathrm{M}{\mathrm{n}}_{x}){\mathrm{O}}_{12}$ (Mn:YIG) thin films grown on $\mathrm{G}{\mathrm{d}}_{3}\mathrm{G}{\mathrm{a}}_{5}{\mathrm{O}}_{12}$ (111) (GGG) substrates by pulsed-laser deposition. Mn doping is observed to strongly enhance the magnetoelastic coefficient of YIG thin films, which leads to large tunability of the thin film magnetic anisotropy by lattice strain. With increasing Mn concentration from $x=0$ to $x=1.25$, a continuous increase of out-of-plane magnetic anisotropy ranging from \ensuremath{-}644.4 Oe to 1337.5 Oe is observed. In particular, a perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) is achieved in Mn:YIG thin films with a high Mn concentration of $x=1.12$. Ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) measurements show low FMR linewidths of 3.4 Oe to 129 Oe at 9.5 GHz in Mn:YIG thin films. Our paper demonstrates manganese doping as an effective way to enhance the magnetoelastic anisotropy of YIG thin films by strain, which is useful for magnonic and magneto-optical device applications.