Influence of Dimensional Effects on the Curie Temperature of Dy and Ho Thin Films

Abstract

The role of size effects in the formation of the magnetic structure of Dy and Ho thin films in absence of epitaxial strain is studied in this work. It was found that, for Dy in the temperature range between the Néel temperature and the Curie temperature of bulk Dy and, for Ho, in the temperature range between the Néel temperature and the temperature of phase transition into the conic phase, the temperature dependences of the period of magnetic helicoid in the bulk and film metals are similar. The character of the transition into the ferromagnetic phase in the Dy films changes at lower temperatures, and the transition into the commensurable conic phase in the Ho films is suppressed. This is explained exclusively by the influence of dimensional effects.