Giant magnetic effects in the L-edge extended x-ray absorption fine structure of 3d transition metals

A systematic extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) study at the L edges of ferromagnetic Fe, Co, and Ni thin films has been conducted using circular polarized soft x rays. A very large helicity dependence has been observed in the L-edge EXAFS spectra. Surprisingly, in contradiction with prior works, these magnetic EXAFS results indicate a nonlinear dependence of this effect on the magnetic polarization of the scattering atom. The data further indicate that the dominant scattering paths responsible for the effect are different from those responsible for EXAFS. A discussion of the results in relation to the present understanding of the underlying mechanism and its ramifications to the existing theoretical frameworks is also presented. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.