X-ray magnetic circular dichroism at the iron K edge in rare-earth-transition-metal intermetallics: Experimental probe of the rare-earth magnetic moment

We present a systematic x-ray magnetic-circular-dichroism (XMCD) study performed at the Fe K edge on the R₂Fe₁₄B series (R=rareearthandY). The magnetic XMCD signal has been identified as due to the addition of two components associated with the magnetic contributions from the iron and the rare-earth sublattices. The contribution of the rare-earth sublattice has been extracted from the total XMCD signal. The integrated XMCD signal of the R component is proven to be directly correlated with the R magnetic moment.