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Increased low-temperature damping in yttrium iron garnet thin films

Cornell Affiliated Author(s)

Author

C. Jermain
Sriharsha Aradhya
N. Reynolds
Robert Buhrman
J. Brangham
M. Page
P. Hammel
F . Y. Yang
D. Ralph

Abstract

We report measurements of the frequency and temperature dependence of ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) for a 15-nm-thick yttrium iron garnet (YIG) film grown by off-axis sputtering. Although the FMR linewidth is narrow at room temperature [corresponding to a damping coefficient α=(9.0±0.2)×10-4], comparable to previous results for high-quality YIG films of similar thickness, the linewidth increases strongly at low temperatures, by a factor of almost 30. This increase cannot be explained as due to two-magnon scattering from defects at the sample interfaces. We point out that the increased low-temperature linewidth can be explained by impurity relaxation mechanisms that were elucidated 50 years ago in bulk YIG samples. High-purity starting materials and careful optimization of growth protocols to avoid nonstoichiometries should therefore be employed for making low-temperature thin-film YIG devices. © 2017 American Physical Society.

Date Published

Journal

American Physical Society (APS)

Volume

95

Issue

17

URL

https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85024372763&doi=10.1103%2fPhysRevB.95.174411&partnerID=40&md5=64db0ebf95578fe849399ba0111263ea

DOI

10.1103/PhysRevB.95.174411

Funding Source

P41GM103521
DMR-1420451
1406333
1507274
DMR-1406333
DMR-1507274
DE-FG02-03ER46054
W911NF-14-C-0089
DMR-1120296

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