Destruction of the Spin-Glass Order in Thin AuFe Films

Abstract

Using the anomalous Hall effect, the thickness dependence of the spin-glass freezing temperature Tf is studied in thin AuFe films. The observed depression of Tf is consistent with the existence of a lower critical dimension 2<D1<3 for the spin-glass phase transition, provided the extremely slow dynamics of the freezing process are taken into account. The damping of the RKKY interaction by elastic defect scattering cannot explain the observed destruction of the spin-glass order.