Theory of circularly polarized x-ray absorption by ferromagnetic Fe

Abstract

A description of the absorption of circularly polarized x rays based on a spin-polarized version of relativistic multiple scattering theory is presented. The approach treats all relativistic effects and spin polarization on equal footing, permitting us to study the difference in absorption of left and right circularly polarized x rays. Results obtained for ferromagnetic Fe are presented and compared with experiment.