Electron-yield saturation effects in L-edge x-ray magnetic circular dichroism spectra of Fe, Co, and Ni

Saturation effects are determined in x-ray magnetic circular dichroism spec tra, acquired by electron yield techniques. It is shown that sum-rule extra ction of the number of d holes, orbital moment, and spin moment are affecte d for Fe, Co, and Ni. In particular, errors in the extracted orbital moment values due to saturation effects can be in excess of 100% and even yield t he wrong sign for films as thin as 50 Angstrom. They are significant even f or film thicknesses of a few monolayers. Errors for the derived values for the number of d holes and the spin moment are considerably smaller but may be of the order 10-20 %. Correction factors are given for quantities obtain ed from sum rule analysis of electron yield data of Fe, Co, and Ni as a fun ction of film thickness and x-ray incidence angle. [S0163-1829(99)01009-7].