Spin-resolved electron spectroscopy with highly polarized sources: Inverse photoemission from ferromagnets

We report on the use of recently developed spin-polarized electron sources with very high polarization for electron spectroscopy. In particular we present data of spin-resolved inverse photoemission from Fe(100) films excited by polarized electrons produced by a strained GaAsP negative electron affinity photocathode. This highly polarized source (beam polarization P = 65%) allows a direct and almost complete decoupling of the majority and minority empty states in Fe(100), much better than the standard GaAs sources (P = 20%-30%). The preparation and characterization of the strained photocathode is also discussed. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.