Electron paramagnetic resonance in a Gd0.14Si0.86 amorphous film: Bottleneck regime

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) in a Gd_0.14Si_0.86 amorphous film is studied over a wide temperature range from 4 to 300 K. The experimental results are analyzed with regard to the strong structural disorder in the system under study. This disorder leads to the formation of droplets, that is, regions with a high density of electronic states. It is shown that the observed EPR signal can be formed only in the double bottleneck regime, and temperature dependences are obtained for the line position and width. The spin-lattice relaxation rates for electrons and Gd ions, the second spectral moment of the line, the ferromagnetic transition temperature, the number of Gd atoms in the droplets, and the product of the electron density of states by the exchange coupling constant between electrons and Gd ions are evaluated from comparison with experimental data. The values obtained corroborate the validity of the assumptions that the double bottleneck conditions are fulfilled and structural and phase nanoscale inhomogeneities exist in the system.