Magnetic properties of gadolinium silicide thin films produced by different fabrication processes

Abstract The magnetic and transport properties of heavy rare earth suicide GdSi 2− x thin films were investigated as a function of temperature and duration of the annealing. For films annealed for a short time at low temperature, two magnetic transitions occur which may be attributed to the presence of ordered and disordered phases in the film. For films annealed at higher temperatures, only one magnetic transition is observed at the Neel temperature, which is higher than that for bulk silicide.