Xu Kun, Lin Ting, Rao Yiheng, Wang Ziqiang, Yang Qinghui, Zhang Huaiwu, Zhu Jing
National Center for Electron Microscopy in Beijing, School of Materials Science and Engineering, The State Key Laboratory of New Ceramics and Fine Processing, Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials (MOE), Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, P.R. China.
Ji Hua Laboratory, Foshan, Guangdong, P.R. China.
Nat Commun. 2022 Jun 9;13(1):3206. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-30992-3.
The ferrimagnetic insulator iron garnets, tailored artificially with specific compositions, have been widely utilized in magneto-optical (MO) devices. The adjustment on synthesis always induces structural variation, which is underestimated due to the limited knowledge of the local structures. Here, by analyzing the structure and magnetic properties, two different antiphase boundaries (APBs) with individual interfacial structure are investigated in substituted iron garnet film. We reveal that magnetic signals decrease in the regions close to APBs, which implies degraded MO performance. In particular, the segregation of oxygen deficiencies across the APBs directly leads to reduced magnetic elements, further decreases the magnetic moment of Fe and results in a higher absorption coefficient close to the APBs. Furthermore, the formation of APBs can be eliminated by optimizing the growth rate, thus contributing to the enhanced MO performance. These analyses at the atomic scale provide important guidance for optimizing MO functional materials.
具有特定成分的人工定制的亚铁磁绝缘体铁石榴石已被广泛应用于磁光（MO）器件中。合成过程中的调整总是会引起结构变化，由于对局部结构的了解有限，这种变化被低估了。在这里，通过分析结构和磁性，在替代铁石榴石薄膜中研究了具有不同界面结构的两种不同反相边界（APB）。我们发现，靠近反相边界的区域磁信号会降低，这意味着磁光性能下降。特别是，反相边界上氧缺陷的偏析直接导致磁性元素减少，进一步降低了铁的磁矩，并导致靠近反相边界处的吸收系数更高。此外，通过优化生长速率可以消除反相边界的形成，从而有助于提高磁光性能。这些原子尺度的分析为优化磁光功能材料提供了重要指导。
