Yttrium iron garnet (YIG) is a kind of synthetic

garnet Garnets () are a group of silicate minerals that have been used since the Bronze Age as gemstones and abrasives. Garnet minerals, while sharing similar physical and crystallographic properties, exhibit a wide range of chemical compositions, de ...

, with chemical composition , or Y₃Fe₅O₁₂. It is a

ferrimagnetic A ferrimagnetic material is a material that has populations of atoms with opposing magnetic moments, as in antiferromagnetism, but these moments are unequal in magnitude, so a spontaneous magnetization remains. This can for example occur wh ...

material with a Curie temperature of 560 K. YIG may also be known as yttrium ferrite garnet, or as iron yttrium oxide or yttrium iron oxide, the latter two names usually associated with powdered forms.

Production

Several methods are utilized for synthesis of yttrium iron garnet each with their pros and cons. The solid-state reaction method is a traditional approach for YIG synthesis, involving the high-temperature firing of a mixture of yttrium and

iron oxides An iron oxide is a chemical compound composed of iron and oxygen. Several iron oxides are recognized. Often they are nonstoichiometric, non-stoichiometric. Ferric oxyhydroxides are a related class of compounds, perhaps the best known of which is ...

. This cost-effective technique can produce pure YIG crystals but requires careful control of temperature and atmosphere to prevent impurities. Liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) is another key method, especially for creating thin YIG films with excellent uniformity. Ideal for optical and

microwave Microwave is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths shorter than other radio waves but longer than infrared waves. Its wavelength ranges from about one meter to one millimeter, corresponding to frequency, frequencies between 300&n ...

devices, LPE enables precise film growth on substrates. However, its high equipment costs and complex procedures limit its use to applications where superior quality is essential.

Properties

In YIG, the five iron(III) ions occupy two octahedral and three

tetrahedral In geometry, a tetrahedron (: tetrahedra or tetrahedrons), also known as a triangular pyramid, is a polyhedron composed of four triangular Face (geometry), faces, six straight Edge (geometry), edges, and four vertex (geometry), vertices. The tet ...

sites, with the yttrium(III) ions coordinated by eight oxygen ions in an irregular cube. The iron ions in the two coordination sites exhibit different

spins The spins (as in having "the spins") is an adverse reaction of Substance intoxication, intoxication that causes a state of vertigo and nausea, causing one to feel as if "spinning out of control", especially when lying down. It is most commonly as ...

, resulting in

magnetic Magnetism is the class of physical attributes that occur through a magnetic field, which allows objects to attract or repel each other. Because both electric currents and magnetic moments of elementary particles give rise to a magnetic field, m ...

behavior. By substituting specific sites with rare-earth elements, for example, interesting magnetic properties can be obtained. YIG has a high Verdet constant which results in the Faraday effect, high

Q factor In physics and engineering, the quality factor or factor is a dimensionless parameter that describes how underdamped an oscillator or resonator is. It is defined as the ratio of the initial energy stored in the resonator to the energy lost ...

frequencies, low absorption of

infrared Infrared (IR; sometimes called infrared light) is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than that of visible light but shorter than microwaves. The infrared spectral band begins with the waves that are just longer than those ...

wavelengths down to 1200 nm, and very small

linewidth A spectral line is a weaker or stronger region in an otherwise uniform and continuous spectrum. It may result from emission or absorption of light in a narrow frequency range, compared with the nearby frequencies. Spectral lines are often used ...

in electron spin resonance. These properties make it useful for MOI (magneto optical imaging) applications in superconductors.

Applications

YIG is used in

, acoustic,

optical Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behaviour of visible, ultravio ...

, and magneto-optical applications, e.g. microwave

YIG filter Yttrium iron garnet spheres (YIG spheres) serve as magnetically tunable signal processing, filters and resonators for microwave frequencies. YIG filters are used for their high Q factors, typically between 100 and 200. A sphere made from a sing ...

s, or acoustic

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...

s and

transducer A transducer is a device that Energy transformation, converts energy from one form to another. Usually a transducer converts a signal in one form of energy to a signal in another. Transducers are often employed at the boundaries of automation, M ...

s. It is transparent for light wavelengths over 600 nm — the

end of the spectrum. It also finds use in

solid-state laser A solid-state laser is a laser that uses a active laser medium, gain medium that is a solid, rather than a liquid as in dye lasers or a gas as in gas lasers. Semiconductor-based lasers are also in the solid state, but are generally considered as ...

s in Faraday rotators, in

data storage Data storage is the recording (storing) of information (data) in a storage medium. Handwriting, phonographic recording, magnetic tape, and optical discs are all examples of storage media. Biological molecules such as RNA and DNA are con ...

, and in various

nonlinear optics Nonlinear optics (NLO) is the branch of optics that describes the behaviour of light in Nonlinearity, nonlinear media, that is, media in which the polarization density P responds non-linearly to the electric field E of the light. The non-linearity ...

applications.Holm, U., Sohlstrom, H., & Brogardh, T. (1984). "YIG-Sensor Design for Fiber Optical Magnetic-Field Measurements". Proceedings of the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers, 514, 333–336.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yttrium Iron Garnet Synthetic minerals Iron(III) compounds Yttrium compounds Nonlinear optical materials Ferromagnetic materials Transition metal oxides

Production

Properties

Applications

See also

References