Absorption of circularly polarized VUV radiation in polarized iron vapour

The effect of magnetic dichroism on the total ion yield of iron, i.e. in th e absorption of polarized iron vapour, was observed for the first time far away from the threshold or autoionizing states. These observations can be e xplained by the orientation of orbital angular momentum of the 3d-electrons . This effect has not yet been observed in the absorption measurements of m agnetized iron films due to the smallness of the expectation value of the o rbital angular momentum in the solid targets. The details of the dynamical behaviour go beyond single-electron approximations.