Temperature dependence of the Ho L2-edge XMCD spectra of Ho6Fe23.
An X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) study performed at the Ho L2,3-edges in Ho6Fe23 as a function of temperature is presented. It is demonstrated that the anomalous temperature dependence of the Ho L2-edge XMCD signal is due to the magnetic contribution of Fe atoms. By contrast, the Ho L3-edge XMCD directly reflects the temperature dependence of the Ho magnetic moment. By combining the XMCD at both Ho L2- and L3-edges, the possibility of determining the temperature dependence of the Fe magnetic moment is demonstrated. Then, both microHo(T) and microFe(T) have been determined by tuning only the absorption L-edges of Ho. This result opens new possibilities of applying XMCD at these absorption edges to obtain quantitative element-specific magnetic information that is not directly obtained by other experimental tools.