Tailoring of magnetic properties of ultrathin epitaxial Fe films by Dy doping

We report on the controlled modification of relaxation parameters and magnetic moments of epitaxial Fe thin films through Dy doping. Ferromagnetic resonance measurements show that an increase of Dy doping from 0.1% to 5% gives a tripling in Gilbert damping, and more importantly a strongly enhanced anisotropic damping that can be qualitatively understood through the slow-relaxing impurity model. X-ray magnetic circular dichroism measurements show a pronounced suppression of the orbital moment of the Fe with Dy doping, leading to an almost threefold drop in the orbital to spin moment ratio, ml/ms. Doping with Dy can therefore be used to control both dynamic and static properties of thin ferromagnetic films for improved performance in spintronics device applications, mediated through the antiferromagnetic interaction of the 4f and 3d states.