Structural inhomogeneity and properties of Y3Fe5O12 crystals with allowance for their crystallographic orientation

The character of nonuniform distribution of the main cations Y and Fe in the plane of samples of yttrium garnet Y₃Fe₅O₁₂ and the nonstatistical incorporation of process impurities along the crystallographic directions [110], [111], and [100] are investigated. The structural inhomogeneity revealed in the samples is discussed with allowance for the difference in the growth rates of the garnet crystal faces under study, specific features of the incorporation of dominant impurities, and the relationship between this inhomogeneity and the optical and kinetic properties of the crystals.