Magnetic dichroism and electron spin polarization in photoemission: analytical results

Abstract

For cubic (001), (110) and (111) surface systems with in-plane or perpendicular magnetization, valence-band photoemission along the surface normal is studied analytically by evaluating electric dipole transition matrix elements between half-space initial and final states of the appropriate double-group symmetry. Explicit expressions are obtained for the spin-polarization vector of the photoelectrons, and the spin-averaged intensity and its change upon reversal of the magnetization direction, i.e. magnetic dichroism, for circularly and linearly polarized incident light. These results firstly elucidate the origin of spin polarization and dichroism in terms of an interplay between spin - orbit coupling and exchange, and secondly provide a systematic overview of possible effects. In particular, we predict new types of magnetic linear dichroism for s-polarized light in the case of magnetization perpendicular to surfaces with a twofold rotation axis and in the case of in-plane magnetization of fcc (111) or hcp (0001) surfaces.