MAGNETIC CIRCULAR-DICHROISM IN RESONANT SOFT-X-RAY INELASTIC-SCATTERING - THE RECOVERY OF THE USEFUL INFORMATION FROM THE RAW DATA

The effect of sample thickness, dilution and selfabsorption-saturation is very strong in magnetic circular dichroism of soft X-rays with res onant excitation. Thus the scattering cross section which is an intrin sic property of the sample can be very different with respect to the m easured one. We present a general treatment of this connection with a discussion of some asymptotic cases and with numerical calculations on Fe vs thickness and Fe in Fe-Co alloys. The model is supported by mea surements on magnetic Fe vs thickness with excitation at the L-3 peak. This spectroscopic technique with resonant excitation is particularly useful in dilute systems and in thin semitransparent concentrated sam ples. (C) 1997 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.