Spin polarization of conduction electrons and electronic structure of gadolinium

The structure of magnetic moment in metallic gadolinium is studied with special attention paid to the conduction electron spin-polarization. The theoretical electronic structure, Fermi surface topology, neutron magnetic form-factor and magnetic Compton profiles of ferromagnetic gadolinium are analysed. The calculated band structure is in good agreement with the results of a photoemission experiment, especially in the position of the 4f band. Some tendency to parallelization behaviour in the Fermi surface was observed. The maximum entropy reconstruction of the magnetization density from neutron diffraction data is also presented and compared with the theoretically predicted distribution. It is shown that in contrast to the old interpretation of the magnetic form factor data, the negative spin polarization in the interstitial regions may contain contribution coming from d-type electrons. The negative magnetization within the muffin-tin should characterize semi-core electrons 5s and 5p. Presence of this magnetization can hardly be found in neutron measurements, yet it is possible to observe it in accurate magnetic Compton profiles. The latter are calculated and discussed. (paper)