Investigation of spin-polarized surfaces with multiple electron capture spectroscopy

Slow, multiply charged ions incident on solid surfaces interact only with a few atomic sites from the top-most surface layer. A novel technique for probing local spin polarization at surfaces was developed, namely multiple electron capture spectroscopy (MECS). This technique is based on the Auger electron emission from doubly excited He atoms formed in front of ferromagnetic surfaces. The temperature dependence of the spin polarization of Fe(1 1 0) was obtained and the results are compared with those from the highly polarized Ni(1 1 0) surface.