Suppression of hard bubbles in LPE garnet films by inert atmosphere annealing

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Abstract
A new method for the suppression of hard bubbles in single‐layer LPE garnet films has been developed. The method involves annealing the films in an inert atmosphere for a few hours at temperatures near 1100 °C. The proposed mechanism involves enhanced diffusion of Ga from the substrate into the film due to oxygen vacancies produced by annealing in the inert atmosphere. The diffused Ga replaces Fe on tetrahedral sites forming a thin second layer of reduced magnetization at the film‐substrate interface. This new method may have advantages in convenience and cost over the available hard‐bubble suppression techniques.