Some Magnetic Properties of Gd–(Fe, Co, Ni) Alloy Films Prepared by Co-Evaporation Techniques

Abstract

We have found that the co-evaporated film of Gd–Fe possesses a perpendicular easy axis anisotropy sufficient to cause the magnetization to be normal to the film plane. The critical thickness to obtain the perpendicular domain is about 500 Å at the room temperature. However, both Gd–Co and Gd–Ni alloy films do not possess a perpendicular easy axis anisotropy in the thickness range from 0 to 1000 Å.