Additivity of magnetic contributions to the x-ray magnetic circular dichroism spectrum

Abstract

We have studied the behavior of the x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) signals recorded at the Fe K edge through the Ho1−xLuxFe2 series in which the system is driven through a magnetic compensation by varying the concentration of the magnetic rare-earth metal, the temperature and the applied magnetic field. We report a direct experimental evidence of the additive character of the different magnetic species, Ho and Fe, to the XMCD signal at the conduction band. Both magnetic contributions are always present due to the hybridization of the conduction states, and only at TComp the Ho contribution to the Fe K-edge XMCD disappears.