Epitaxial liftoff of thin oxide layers: Yttrium iron garnets onto GaAs

We report on the implementation of epitaxial liftoff in magnetic garnets. Deep-ion implantation is used to create a buried sacrificial layer in single-crystal yttrium iron garnet (YIG) and bismuth-substituted YIG epilayers grown on gadolinium gallium garnet. The damage generated by the implantation induces a large etch selectivity between the sacrificial layer and the rest of the garnet. 10-μm-thick films of excellent quality are lifted off and bonded to silicon and GaAs substrates. No noticeable degradation in magnetic coercivity due to domain pinning is observed. Stress-induced microfracturing in the thin oxide layers is also addressed.