Magnetic Properties of YFe, (Gd, Tb)-YFe Sputtered Films

YFe sputtered films were studied to clarify the behavior of Fe-Fe interactions in an amorphous RE-Fe matrix. The effect of the RE magnetism on the magnetic properties of RE-Fe films was also investigated using (Gd, Tb)-YFe sputtered films. Amorphous YFe films exhibit spin-glass like characteristics, that is, the magnetization does not saturate easily even at low temperatures because of the noncollinear alignment of the Fe moments. The addition of an RE element (Gd, Tb) to YFe film serves to eliminate the spin-glass like nature, and a magnetically ordered state can be observed. The exchange interaction between the RE element and Fe may play an important role in RE-YFe film.