Efficient second harmonic generation (SHG) in nanophotonic designs based on all-dielectric nanostructures demands materials with large values of the quadratic nonlinear susceptibility, low dissipative losses, and high refractive index. One of the best materials meeting all these parameters is gallium phosphide (GaP). However, second-order nonlinearity requires high crystallinity and morphology quality of the GaP layer grown for further lithographic processing. Here we develop a method to fabricate high-quality crystalline GaP metasurfaces, which demonstrate pronounced linear and nonlinear optical properties. Direct growth of a GaP layer on a sapphire substrate tackles the previous problem of wafer bonding, because of high optical contrast between fabricated resonant nanoparticles and the substrate. As a result, the fabricated GaP metasurface supports bound state in continuum mode with an experimental quality factor around 100 yielding a strong enhancement of SHG in narrow spectral range. We believe that the developed approach will become a versatile platform for nonlinear all-dielectric nanophotonics.

Pulsed laser deposition has been used to grow thin (10–84 nm) epitaxial layers of Yttrium Iron Garnet Y₃Fe₅O₁₂ (YIG) on (111)–oriented Gadolinium Gallium Garnet substrates at different growth conditions. Atomic force microscopy showed flat surface morphology both on micrometer and nanometer scales. X-ray diffraction measurements revealed that the films are coherent with the substrate in the interface plane. The interplane distance in the [111] direction was found to be by 1.2% larger than expected for YIG stoichiometric pseudomorphic film indicating presence of rhombohedral distortion in this direction. Polar Kerr effect and ferromagnetic resonance measurements showed existence of additional magnetic anisotropy, which adds to the demagnetizing field to keep magnetization vector in the film plane. The origin of the magnetic anisotropy is related to the strain in YIG films observed by XRD. Magneto-optical Kerr effect measurements revealed important role of magnetization rotation during magnetization reversal. An unusual fine structure of microwave magnetic resonance spectra has been observed in the film grown at reduced (0.5 mTorr) oxygen pressure. Surface spin wave propagation has been demonstrated in the in-plane magnetized films.

Thin (4–20 nm) yttrium iron garnet (Y₃Fe₅O₁₂, YIG) layers have been grown on gadolinium gallium garnet (Gd₃Ga₅O₁₂, GGG) 111-oriented substrates by laser molecular beam epitaxy in 700–1000 °C growth temperature range. The layers were found to have atomically flat step-and-terrace surface morphology with step height of 1.8 Å characteristic for YIG(111) surface. As the growth temperature is increased from 700 to 1000 °C the terraces become wider and the growth gradually changes from layer by layer to step-flow regime. Crystal structure studied by electron and X-ray diffraction showed that YIG lattice is co-oriented and laterally pseudomorphic to GGG with small rhombohedral distortion present perpendicular to the surface. Measurements of magnetic moment, magneto-optical polar and longitudinal Kerr effect (MOKE), and X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) were used for study of magnetization reversal for different orientations of magnetic field. These methods and ferromagnetic resonance studies have shown that in zero magnetic field magnetization lies in the film plane due to both shape and induced anisotropies. Vectorial MOKE studies have revealed the presence of an in-plane easy magnetization axis. In-plane magnetization reversal was shown to occur through combination of reversible rotation and abrupt irreversible magnetization jump, the latter caused by domain wall nucleation and propagation. The field at which the flip takes place depends on the angle between the applied magnetic field and the easy magnetization axis and can be described by the modified Stoner–Wohlfarth model taking into account magnetic field dependence of the domain wall energy. Magnetization curves of individual tetrahedral and octahedral magnetic Fe³⁺ sublattices were studied by XMCD.

We demonstrate that the use of a GaN seeding layer prepared prior to the growth of epitaxial GaN on Si (111) can lead to the formation of oriented arrays of Y-shaped nanoislands and nanowires and affects the surface density of the nanostructures.