  Femtosecond x-ray magnetic circular dichroism was used to study the
time-dependent magnetic moment of 4 fs electrons in the ferromagnets Gd and Tb,
which are known for their different spin-lattice coupling. We observe a
two-step demagnetization with an ultrafast demagnetization time of 750 fs
identical for both systems and slower times which differ sizeably with 40 ps
for Gd and 8 ps for Tb. We conclude that spin-lattice coupling in the
electronically excited state is enhanced up to orders of magnitude compared to
equilibrium.
