The effects of exchange coupling on magnetic switching properties of all-garnet multilayer thin film structures are investigated. All-garnet structures are fabricated by sandwiching a magneto-soft material of composition type Bi1.8Lu1.2Fe3.6Al1.4O12 or Bi₃Fe₅O12:Dy₂O₃ in between two magneto-hard garnet material layers of composition type Bi₂Dy₁Fe₄Ga₁O12 or Bi₂Dy₁Fe₄Ga₁O12:Bi₂O₃. The fabricated RF magnetron sputtered exchange-coupled all-garnet multilayers demonstrate a very attractive combination of magnetic properties, and are of interest for emerging applications in optical sensors and isolators, ultrafast nanophotonics and magneto-plasmonics. An unconventional type of magnetic hysteresis behavior not observed previously in magnetic garnet thin films is reported and discussed.
Keywords: garnet; integrated optics; magnetic media; magneto-optic; multilayer thin films; nanophotonics.