Microscopic magnetic property of perpendicular magnetic films of DyxCo100−x measured using soft X-ray magnetic circular dichroism Original Research Article

We have carried out X-ray absorption measurements with its magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) of perpendicular magnetic films of DyxCo100−x (15⩽x⩽33) at Dy M4,5 and Co L2,3 absorption edges to investigate electronic and spin states of the Dy 4f and Co 3d states, respectively. The replacement of major spin between Dy 4f and Co3d is clearly observed in the spectra between 20⩽x⩽25. The expected values of the orbital angular moment ∣〈Lz〉∣ of Dy 4f were estimated to be 1.4–0.8 μB while that of Co 3d was estimated to be around 0.2 μB.