Strain-induced modulation of temperature characteristics in ferrimagnetic Tb–Fe films

This study investigates the effect of strain on the compensation temperature of ferrimagnetic Tb–Fe films formed on a flexible substrate. The compensation temperature is determined by the anomalous Hall measurement, and an application of 1.2% tensile strain reduces the compensation temperature by 12 K. X-ray magnetic circular dichroism reveals that approximately 5% of Fe magnetic moment and approximately 1% of Tb magnetic moment are reduced by an application of 0.9% tensile strain at the room temperature. To understand the greater reduction in Fe magnetization compared with that in Tb and the compensation temperature reduction simultaneously, a model applying molecular field theory is analyzed. Changes in three types of exchange coupling between Fe and Tb atoms are speculated to be caused by the strain.