Thermal Conductivity of a Nanoscale Yttrium Iron Garnet Thin-Film Prepared by the Sol-Gel Process

The thermal conductivity of a nanoscale yttrium iron garnet (Y₃Fe₅O12, YIG) thin-film prepared by a sol-gel method was evaluated using the ultrafast pump-probe technique in the present study. The thermoreflectance change on the surface of a 250 nm thick YIG film, induced by the irradiation of femtosecond laser pulses, was measured, and curve fitting of a numerical solution for the transient heat conduction equation to the experimental data was performed using the finite difference method in order to extract the thermal property. Results show that the film's thermal conductivity is 22-83% higher than the properties of bulk YIG materials prepared by different fabrication techniques, reflecting the microstructural characteristics and quality of the film.