  X-ray magnetic circular and linear dichroism (XMCD and XMLD) have been used
to investigate the Fe magnetic response during the spin reorientation
transition (SRT) in TmFeO3. These experiments are complemented with resonant
magnetic diffraction experiments at the Tm M5 edge to study simultaneously the
induced magnetic order in the Tm 4f shell and the behavior of the Tm orbitals
through the SRT. Comparing the Fe XMLD results with neutron diffraction and
magnetization measurements on the same sample indicate that the SRT has an
enhanced temperature range in the near surface region. This view is supported
by the resonant soft x-ray diffraction results at the Tm M5 edge. These find an
induced magnetic moment on the Tm sites, which is well-described by a dipolar
mean field model originating from the Fe moments. Even though such a model can
describe the 4f response in the experiments, it is insufficient to describe the
SRT even when considering a change in the 4f anisotropy. Moreover, the results
of the Fe XMCD are indicative of a decoupling of spin canting and
antiferromagnetic spin rotation in the near surface regime close to the SRT,
which remains to be understood.
