SPIN AND ORBITAL MAGNETIC-X-RAY DIFFRACTION IN HOFE2

We report the first direct measurements of spin/orbital magnetization ratios in a ferromagnetic material using x-ray diffraction. The simple technique, based on diffraction of elliptically polarized white synch rotron radiation, produces spin/orbital ratios that are independent of the precise photon polarization. Results from HoFe2 are shown to be g enerally in very close agreement with relativistic spin-polarized band calculations and known moments, but the measured orbital moment at th e iron site is anomalously large.