We report on the deposition, crystallization, and magnetic properties of cerium substituted europium iron garnet having the general form of (CeEu) 3 (FeGa) 5 O 12. The films were deposited on gallium gadolinium garnet and fused quartz substrates using biased target ion beam deposition at a rate of 2.7 nm/min. The Ce:EIG thin film has a composition of Ce 1.3 Eu 1.7 Fe 3 Ga 1.6 O 12 , with 30% of the Ce in the 4+ oxidation state and the remainder as Ce 3+. The film exhibits the primary peaks of the garnet phase in X-ray diffraction patterns. In the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum, the film on GGG exhibits a Faraday rotation of 3.3 °/µm with coercivity of 0.58 kOe whereas the film on fused quartz exhibits 1.1 °/µm with a coercivity of 0.8 kOe. The film on the fused quartz substrate has a saturation magnetization of 17 emu/cm 3 on at room temperature.