The Magnetostriction of Silicon-Doped Yttrium Iron Garnet (Yig)

The magnetostriction constants λ100 and λ111 have been measured at room temperature for YIG single crystals in which a small fraction of the iron ions are replaced by silicon. The magnetically active impurity is believed to be divalent iron which compensates the Si4+. As the silicon concentration reaches about 0.05 Si atoms/Y3Fe5O12, both λ's pass through zero. In crystals of this composition the magnetization is largely decoupled from the strain distribution in the crystal. A peak in low-frequency permeability and simple easily interpreted domain structures correspond to this λ = 0 composition.