Surface magnetism studied by polarized light emission after He+ scattering

Surface magnetism is studied by means of an ion beam of low energy (2-15 keV) scattered off the surface under grazing incidence conditions. During the scattering, a small fraction of the ions is neutralized into excited states which decay subsequently by light emission. The circular polarization of the light emitted after the scattering event is related to the surface magnetization of the sample. We used a Fe(1 1 0) single crystal and a He+ ion beam to study the circular polarization as a function of a number of parameters, such as primary energy, angle of incidence and azimuthal angle of the sample. The results are discussed in terms of the spin-filter model.