RECENT RESULTS OF CROSS-FERTILIZATION BETWEEN ELECTRON-SPECTROSCOPY AND MAGNETISM

The probing depth in transition metals for low energy electrons of 5-1 0 eV above the Fermi-energy is much lower than previously assumed. It increases with the number Of unoccupied d-states, that is the early tr ansition metals have the shortest probing depth of, e.g., only one mon olayer for threshold electrons in Gd. Spin polarized electron spectros copy combined with the art of fabricating ultrathin magnetic structure s permits accurate measurement of these probing depth and allows detai led verification of die underlying assumptions through measurement of the transport polarization acquired by electrons traversing ferromagne tic material. While the phenomenological meaning of the probing depth is clearly defined by the experimental procedure, meaningful theoretic al analysis is not available.