Temperature dependence of spin-wave modes and Gilbert damping in lanthanum-doped yttrium-iron-garnet films

Abstract

In this work, we study the ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) spectra of lanthanum-doped yttrium-iron-garnet (La:YIG) film as a function of temperature and frequency. The experimental results show a significant increase in the number of spin-wave resonance modes with increasing temperature. The FMR linewidth is nonlinear as a function of frequency at low temperatures but linear at room temperature. This nonlinear behavior at low temperature indicates the relaxation of the magnetization by impurities (La 3+ dopant) or defects at the surfaces. Most importantly, the results reveal that temperature-dependent Gilbert damping in La:YIG film originates from two-magnon scattering, whereas the enhanced Gilbert damping at low-temperature (≤100K) is due mainly to spin-lattice relaxation of La 3+ dopants.