AN ANGLE-DEPENDENT MAGNETIC CIRCULAR X-RAY DICHROISM STUDY OF CO CU(100) - EXPERIMENT VERSUS THEORY/

Values for the magnetic moments of 3d transition metals have been calc ulated from magnetic circular x-ray dichroism measurements using sum r ules. In this work we reveal that these calculations are sensitive to a damping effect resulting from a decrease in photon penetration at th e L(3,2) peaks. Known as saturation effects, we present a simple corre ction to compensate for this phenomenon. We also show that the magneti c moments, as determined using sum rules, are relatively insensitive t o the step function fitted to the absorption spectra. The magnetic mom ents derived from our data differ from the known ground-state moments. The corresponding corrective factors appear to be transferable betwee n cobalt and nickel.