Microscopic properties of degradation-free capped GdN thin films studied by Electron Spin Resonance

The microscopic magnetic properties of high-quality GdN thin films have been investigated by electron spin resonance (ESR) and ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) measurements. Detailed temperature dependence ESR measurements have shown the existence of two ferromagnetic components at lower temperatures which was not clear from the previous magnetization measurements. The temperature, where the resonance shift occurs for the major ferromagnetic component, seems to be consistent with the Curie temperature obtained from the previous magnetization measurement. On the other hand, the divergence of line width is observed around 57 K for the minor ferromagnetic component. The magnetic anisotropies of GdN thin films have been obtained by the analysis of FMR angular dependence observed at 4.2 K. Combining the X-ray diffraction results, the correlation between the magnetic anisotropies and the lattice constants is discussed.