THEORETICAL-STUDY OF THE SPIN-POLARIZED AUGER-ELECTRON EMISSION FROM K CAUSED BY CIRCULARLY-POLARIZED LIGHT

The calculations of the spin-polarized K M2,3VV (where VV is valence-v alence) Auger-electron emission following a core-hole excitation by po larized photons from the potassium surface has been performed. The spi n polarization of the K M2,3W Auger electrons depends on the energy of the incident circularly polarized radiation due to the mixing of s an d d waves in the photoelectron final states. Furthermore, it has been shown that taking into account the different orbital symmetry of the v alence electrons in the screening cloud can affect significantly the v alue of the Auger-electron spin polarization. The quantitative agreeme nt of the calculated results with the experiment has been achieved. Th e connection between photoelectron, core-hole, and Auger-electron spin polarization, respectively, is discussed. It has been shown that thes e quantities can have quite different values. Whereas the photoelectro n spin polarization can be simply expressed in terms of the core-hole spin polarization, the Auger-electron spin polarization may even have equal or opposite sign as compared to the core-hole one.