LAUSR

Abstract A bismuth-substituted yttrium iron garnet (Bi-YIG) thin film on a glass substrate with high magneto-optical (MO) performance was fabricated using metal-organic decomposition (MOD). To enhance the MO performance of the as-grown Bi-YIG thin film, different amounts of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) were introduced to a metal nitrate precursor solution as a reducing agent and growth modifier. By using the optimized concentration, we have obtained a Bi-YIG thin film that exhibited good morphology, high crystallinity, and high saturation magnetization. The Faraday rotation (FR) angle of this film reached its highest value of −8.0°/μm, which is close to that of thin films fabricated on gadolinium gallium garnet substrates (−10.5°/μm). Moreover, BixY3−xFe5O12 films with different Bi substitutions were synthesized; these films showed a higher FR angle, of up to −12.0°/μm (Bi2.5Y0.5Fe5O12), in which the peak position of the FR angle resided in the visible range (505–540 nm). This work reveals that high-quality Bi-YIG thin films on glass substrates via MOD are promising for MO device applications.