Jp. Schille et al., 4F ORBITAL AND SPIN MAGNETISM IN CERIUM INTERMETALLIC COMPOUNDS STUDIED BY MAGNETIC CIRCULAR X-RAY DICHROISM, Physical review. B, Condensed matter, 50(5), 1994, pp. 2985-2989
Magnetic circular x-ray dichroism experiments at the M4,5 absorption e
dges of cerium in the intermetallic compounds CeCuSi, CeRh3B2, and CeF
e2 are reported. By applying general sum rules, it is shown that these
experiments are able to yield both the magnitude and the direction of
the 4f magnetic moment on Ce. An estimation of the orbital contributi
on to those 4f moments is given. Our experiments demonstrate the exist
ence of a 4f magnetic moment on Ce in CeFe2 and confirm the extreme se
nsitivity of the 4f orbital contribution to the degree of localization
of the 4f electrons. This 4f orbital contribution is significantly hi
gher than the one predicted from spin-resolved band-structure calculat
ions.