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The preparation of amorphous thin films of DyFe100-x and Dy20Fe80-yCoy using sputtering on polyimide films is described and their magnetic and magneto-optical properties are presented.

Amorphous thin films of [Dy.sub.20][Fe.sub.80-y] [Co.sub.y], with 0 [is less than] y [is less than] 20 and of ca. 40 nm thickness, have been prepared by sputtering on polyimide substrates. The 295 K conversion electron Mossbauer spectra (CEMS) of these films consist of broadened sextets which have been analyzed with a distribution of hyperfine fields in which the iron moments are oriented perpendicular to the plane of the film, an orientation which is in agreement with the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy observed herein at 295 K by vibrating sample magnetrometry. The average hyperfine field and isomer shift increase linearly with increasing Co content. Both increases arise from an increase in the electron occupation of the 3d states as the cobalt content increases. Index Terms--Hysteresis curves, magneto-optical recording materials, Mossbauer spectroscopy.