A. Berger et al., MAGNETIC REORIENTATION TRANSITION IN EPITAXIAL GD-FILMS, Journal of magnetism and magnetic materials, 137(1-2), 1994, pp. 120000001-120000005
The susceptibility of epitaxial Gd/W(110)-films was investigated as a
function of temperature and film thickness, using a magnetooptical mea
surement technique. In addition to the sharp peak at the Curie tempera
ture T(C), a second peak below T(C) was observed for film thicknesses
d greater-than-or-equal-to 35 nm. This peak shifts to lower temperatur
es with increasing film thickness. The origin of this second susceptib
ility maximum has been identified as a reorientation transition of the
magnetization. Results from micromagnetic calculations using bulk gad
olinium parameters are fully consistent with the observed behavior.