Spin-wave propagation at low temperatures in YIG thin films on YSGG substrates

Abstract

The use of spin waves in magnetic thin films at cryogenic temperatures has long been hindered by the lack of a suitable material platform. Yttrium iron garnet (YIG) is the leading candidate, yet it is typically grown on gadolinium gallium garnet (GGG) substrates, which develop a large paramagnetic moment at low temperatures. This substrate effect limits spin-wave propagation. In this work, we demonstrate that thin YIG films grown on yttrium scandium gallium garnet (YSGG) substrates support robust spin-wave propagation in the Damon–Eshbach geometry, measurable down to 2 K under applied magnetic fields up to 150 mT. Compared with YIG/GGG, YIG/YSGG films exhibit narrower ferromagnetic resonance linewidths at low temperatures and are free from the atomic interdiffusion effects that degrade the performance of YIG/GGG systems. These results establish YIG/YSGG thin films as a promising low-temperature platform, overcoming the intrinsic limitations of YIG/GGG and opening new opportunities for scalable magnonic and hybrid quantum devices operating under cryogenic conditions.