Two-component magnetization in Pd$_{99}$Fe$_{01}$ thin films

Magnetometry data on 5- to 40-nm-thick PdFe films are presented for the first time. It is found that the decrease in the film thickness leads not only to the lowering of the temperature of the transition from the paramagnetic to ferromagnetic state and to the decrease in the saturation magnetization but also to the drastic changes in the film properties. In particular, the type of the temperature dependence of magnetization changes, the Curie temperature becomes strongly dependent on the applied magnetic field, and two transition temperatures are observed in zero magnetic field. The observed effects are attributed to the transition from the three-dimensional distribution of ferromagnetic clusters arising around impurity iron atoms to the two-dimensional one and can be treated within the model of impurity magnetism suggested by Korenblit and Shender.