Temperature-induced magnetization reversal in an amorphous ferrimagnet

Abstract

Both temperature‐ and magnetic‐field‐induced magnetization reversals have been studied near the compensation temperature T_comp in rf‐sputtered amorphous Gd‐Co thin films using a vibrating sample magnetometer. The net magnetization in these films goes smoothly through zero at T=T_comp and can be switched through 180° from a metastable state opposite to the applied magnetic field direction to a stable state parallel to the field by varying either the temperature or the field strength. If the reversal occurs through a uniform rotation of the magnetization, a simple two‐magnetic‐sublattice model allows an effective anisotropy energy K_eff to be determined from the switching data. K_eff exhibits the same anomalous decrease near T_comp as previously reported using magnetic resonance and static magnetization data.