title: Grain-boundary-induced spin disorder in nanocrystalline gadolinium.
abstract: Based on experimental magnetic-field-dependent neutron scattering data, we have calculated the autocorrelation function of the spin misalignment of nanocrystalline (160)gadolinium. The analysis suggests the existence of two characteristic length scales in the spin system: the smaller one is about 5 nm and is attributed to the defect cores of the grain boundaries, whereas the larger length scale is of the order of the average crystallite size D = 21 nm and presumably describes the response of the magnetization to the magnetic anisotropy field of the individual crystallites.
authors.affiliation: Technische Physik, Universität des Saarlandes, D-66041 Saarbrücken, Germany.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Döbrich
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Elmas
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ferdinand
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Markmann
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sharp
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Eckerlebe
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kohlbrecher
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Birringer
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Michels