Magnetic circular dichroism observed by photoemission on the 2p lines of iron films under an applied field.

Abstract

Circular dichroic x-ray photoemission spectroscopy (CDXPS) experiments have been performed on the 2p core-level spectra of polycrystalline Fe films deposited directly on a Ni 3 Fe (μ-metal) substrate that was magnetized by a low excitation field. Because of the polycrystalline state of the iron films, CDXPS studies in the remanent mode were not possible, thus the experiments were performed with the magnetic field switched on during the experiment. Our work on this polycrystalline iron gives some insight into the understanding of the magnetic circular dichroism mechanism. The results show a similar angular variation for the measured asymmetry, as observed on an Fe bcc (100) single crystal remanently magnetized in the (100) direction