Magnetic and orbital dichroism in (e, 2e) ionization of sodium

We present the first measurement of (e, 2e) ionization cross sections for a laser oriented atomic target by spin polarized electrons. Cross sections a re presented as a function of target orientation and polarization direction of the incident electron beam. This study provides insight into mechanisms by which angular momentum is transferred from the valence electron to the two final-state continuum electrons in both singlet and triplet spin channe ls, by comparing measurement with distorted wave Born approximation and the dynamically screened three Coulomb wave calculations.