M. A. Laguna-Marco

X-ray magnetic circular dichroism measurements using an X-ray phase retarder on the BM25 A-SpLine beamline at the ESRF

The experimental set-up at SpLine (BM25A, ESRF) to measure XMCD by using a diamond X-ray phase retarder to obtain circularly polarized X-rays is described.

Disentanglement of magnetic contributions in multi-component systems by using X-ray magnetic circular dichroism at a single absorption edge

X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) has become in recent years an outstanding tool for studying magnetism. Its element specificity, inherent to core-level spectroscopy, combined with the application of magneto-optical sum rules allows quantitative magnetic measurements at the atomic level. These capabilities are now incorporated as a standard tool for studying the localized magnetism in many systems. However, the application of XMCD to the study of the conduction-band magnetism is not so straightforward. Here, it is shown that the atomic selectivity is not lost when XMCD probes the delocalized states. On the contrary, it provides a direct way of disentangling the magnetic contributions to the conduction band coming from the different elements in the material. This is demonstrated by monitoring the temperature dependence of the XMCD spectra recorded at the rare-earth L(2)-edge in the case of RT(2) (R = rare-earth, T = 3d transition metal) materials. These results open the possibility of performing element-specific magnetometry by using a single X-ray absorption edge.

Temperature dependence of the Ho L2-edge XMCD spectra of Ho6Fe23.

An X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) study performed at the Ho L2,3-edges in Ho6Fe23 as a function of temperature is presented. It is demonstrated that the anomalous temperature dependence of the Ho L2-edge XMCD signal is due to the magnetic contribution of Fe atoms. By contrast, the Ho L3-edge XMCD directly reflects the temperature dependence of the Ho magnetic moment. By combining the XMCD at both Ho L2- and L3-edges, the possibility of determining the temperature dependence of the Fe magnetic moment is demonstrated. Then, both microHo(T) and microFe(T) have been determined by tuning only the absorption L-edges of Ho. This result opens new possibilities of applying XMCD at these absorption edges to obtain quantitative element-specific magnetic information that is not directly obtained by other experimental tools.

{sup 57}Fe Moessbauer and x-ray magnetic circular dichroism study of magnetic compensation of the rare-earth sublattice in Nd{sub 2-x}Ho{sub x}Fe{sub 14}B compounds

We present here a study of the magnetic properties of the Nd{sub 2-x}Ho{sub x}Fe{sub 14}B series. The macroscopic properties of these compounds evolve continuously from those of Nd{sub 2}Fe{sub 14}B to those of Ho{sub 2}Fe{sub 14}B as Ho gradually replaces Nd. The system shows a compensation of the rare-earth sublattice magnetization for a critical concentration, x{sub c}=0.55, that is reflected into the anomalous behavior of both macroscopic and microscopic magnetic probes. The combined analysis of magnetization, {sup 57}Fe Moessbauer spectroscopy and Fe K-edge x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) measurements suggests that the origin of the anomalous magnetic behavior found at x{sub c}=0.55 is mainly due to the Ho sublattice. Moreover, the analysis of the Fe K-edge XMCD signals reveal the presence of a rare-earth contribution, reflecting the coupling of the rare-earth and Fe magnetic moments, which can lead to the possibility of disentangling the magnetic behavior of both Fe and R atoms using a single absorption edge.