Fabrication and characterization of YIG nanotubes

•Y3Fe5O12 (yttrium iron garnet, YIG) nanotubes (NTs) of different diameters using a conventional sol-gel method in anodized aluminum oxide (AAO) templates have been fabricated.•FC and ZFC curve indicates that YIG NTs transform from ferromagnetic-like (FM-like) state to superparamagnetic (SPM) state when temperature increases (in the region of 310 K–400 K).•In the FM-like state, coercivity in three different samples yields a 1/2 power law of the temperature. Saturation magnetization in three different samples can be well fitted to Bloch’s T3/2 law. M-H loops shows there are no obvious easy axes.•Characterization of ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) is conducted by cavity method, and Gilbert damping parameter of YIG NTs is around 7–9 × 10−3.