Exchange bias associated with magnetic glass state in Gd5Ge4

Abstract

The exchange bias phenomena associated with the magnetic glass state at low temperatures in Gd5Ge4 are studied. The exchange bias effect originates from the exchange coupling between the ferromagnetic islands and antiferromagnetic matrix in the magnetic glass state. It is found that the exchange bias in Gd5Ge4 is strongly dependent on the measuring field and the cooling field, which indicates that the antiferromagnetic matrix can be easily transformed into ferromagnetic phase under the applied field. The temperature dependence of the exchange bias field shows that the fluctuation of the temperature has less effect on the exchange bias in the low temperature range.