A method of producing garnet materials for use in circular magnetic domain devices

A method is described for producing iron garnet materials for use in circular magnetic domain devices. It comprises providing material having complex domain wall behaviour, and implanting ions having an atomic number of at least 15 into the material. The energy and dose of the ions are such that the lattice is expanded and its crystallinity preserved, and the lattice expansion is such that the complex domain wall behaviour is substantially eliminated. The ions should have an energy in the range 100 to 500 keV and the dose should be in the range 1012 to 1014 ions/cm2. The implanted ions may be Ar, Sm, Te, or Lu. It is thought that the use of rare earth ions allows the magnetostriction constant of the implanted ion to operate in addition to that of the implanted garnet. An advantage of the method is that doses used for implantation using Ar or rare earth ions are less than for implantation using lighter ions, thereby allowing implantations to be performed in a shorter time for the same beam currency density. (UK)