Compensated ferrimagnetism in Er-substituted yttrium iron garnets

Abstract

Compensated ferrimagnets have attracted significant interest because their nearly zero net magnetization eliminates stray fields, enabling dense, interference-free integration of spintronic devices. So far, most research on compensated ferrimagnets has focused on thin films of ferrimagnetic alloys containing rare-earth and transition-metal elements. Here, we demonstrate that yttrium iron garnets with Er substitution, Y3-xErxFe5O12, exhibit unique ferrimagnetic properties, with magnetization compensation points (MCPs) that can be modulated by Er contents. The Y3-xErxFe5O12 shows ferrimagnetic behavior with nearly compensated magnetization near zero at TMCP, which varies linearly with Er contents. Additionally, the temperature-dependent magnetic hysteresis of the Y3-xErxFe5O12 taken near the TMCP shows 40-100 times enhanced coercive fields. These newly discovered compensated ferrimagnetic behaviors in Er-yttrium iron garnet pave the way for the development of ultrafast, low-power spintronics devices that aim to utilize antiferromagnetically coupled spin sublattices.