The dependence of circular dichroism in photoemission on the optical properties of Cs monolayers on Pt(111)

Abstract

We report on the dependence of dichroic photoemission excited by circularly polarised light on the angle of photon incidence. We measured the difference in the angle-resolved photoemission intensities from Cs 5p semi-core levels excited by photons of opposite helicity, which is known as CDAD. We found that the dependence of the measured differences on the angle of light incidence deviates strongly from the model of CDAD for free atoms, as expected. Using the Fresnel equations and a complex index of refraction, one finds that not only the third component but also the second component of the Stokes vector is responsible for the excitation process. Both Stokes components change sign if the initial helicity is reversed, resulting in an additional linear dichroism.