Spin-wave mediated quantum corrections to the conductivity in thin ferromagnetic gadolinium films

We present a study of quantum corrections to the conductivity of thin ferromagnetic gadolinium films. In situ magneto-transport measurements were performed on a series of thin films with thickness d < 135A. For sheet resistances R0 < 4011 Ohm and temperatures T < 30K, we observe a linear temperature dependence of the conductivity in addition to the logarithmic temperature dependence expected from well known quantum corrections in two dimensions. We show that such a linear T-dependence can arise from a spin-wave mediated Altshuler-Aronov type correction.