Yttrium iron garnet and Y, Fe binary oxides synthesized by microwave monomode energy transfer

Polycrystalline yttrium iron garnet (YIG) has been synthesized from Y2O3/Fe3O4 mixtures at a low temperature (below 900 K) in a few minutes by using microwave monomode at ambient atmosphere. Yttrium orthoferrite YFeO3 and surprisingly YFe2O4 have also been synthesized. Under conventional solid state reactions all these Y, Fe binary oxides are synthesized at a much higher temperature and under low partial oxygen pressure in the case of YFe2O4. We discuss briefly this apparent discrepancy. The MW method was equally extended to the synthesis of a scandium-doped YIG compound. This demonstrates the interest of this method for the syntheses of inorganic compounds. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science S.A.