SPIN-FLIP SCATTERING OF LOW-ENERGY ELECTRONS FROM MAGNETIC-SURFACES NEAR THEIR ORDERING TEMPERATURE - APPLICATION TO CR(110)

We examine the theory of spin-flip scattering of low-energy electrons from magnetic surfaces near their ordering temperature, to inquire if the spin-flip contribution to the diffuse background can be used to ex plore the nature of spin fluctuations near the surface, in this temper ature regime. The spin-flip contribution to the diffuse background is related to equal-time correlation functions, which contain information about the amplitude of the near-surface spin fluctuations. These are calculated within the framework of Landau-Ginzburg theory, and their p roperties explored for various cases. The results are combined with a multiple-scattering-based description of the excitation process, to ge nerate quantitative predictions for the antiferromagnetic Cr(110) surf ace. The calculations enable us to isolate particular scattering geome tries which should be particularly favorable for the observation of su rface spin fluctuations near the Neel temperature.