Effect of doping with Pb, Ba, and Si on the properties of Y3Fe5O12 single crystals

In doped single-crystal yttrium iron garnet, Y₃Fe₅O₁₂, photoinduced changes in the cubic magnetostriction constant λ₁₁₁ and coefficient (λ_σ) that characterizes extra stress in the material are determined by the sublattice the dopant is incorporated into. The incorporation of dopant cations into a particular crystallographic site can be controlled by adjusting the crystal growth process. Varying the process for the growth of doped Y₃Fe₅O₁₂ single crystals with semiconducting properties, one can tune the type and magnitude of their photoinduced response. Since an ideal sample cannot be created in practice, and even the lowest densities of growth defects in a single crystal lead to photomagnetism, the present results suggest that, at sufficiently low temperatures, photomagnetic changes occur in almost all Y₃Fe₅O₁₂ single crystals. The behavior of their photomagnetic response depends on the type of defect.