AVS 50th International Symposium
    Applied Surface Science Thursday Sessions
       Session AS-ThA

Paper AS-ThA1
Spin Polarization Modulation through Circular Polarized Light Modulation

Thursday, November 6, 2003, 2:00 pm, Room 324/325

Session: Electron and Photon Spectroscopies
Presenter: S. Balaz, University of Nebraska, Lincoln
Authors: S. Balaz, University of Nebraska, Lincoln
L.G. Rosa, University of Nebraska, Lincoln
H.K. Jeong, University of Nebraska, Lincoln
P.A. Dowben, University of Nebraska, Lincoln
Correspondent: Click to Email
Spin-polarized electron sources have important applications in electron spectroscopies. Such electron spectroscopies can provide considerable insight into the spin- polarized electronic structure of magnetic materials. A variation to the spin polarized electron gun, based on photoemission from a GaAs cathode,@footnote 1@ has been designed for spin polarized inverse photoemission and spin polarized electron scattering.@foonote 2,3@ The goal is to improve the emitted electron spin polarization by improving the control of the incident circularly polarized light, and then modulating the light polarization on the photocathode to modulate the spin polarized photocurrent. A solid state laser, of 780 nm wave length, in combination with a retarder was used to generate the circularly polarized light. Scheme for electron spin polarization modulations, through modulating the applied voltage to a liquid crystal retarder, we show that polarization can be modulated as well. Inclusion of such a spin polarized electron gun as part of spin-polarized inverse photoemission and spin-polarized electron energy loss spectroscopies is discussed. @FootnoteText@ @footnote 1@D.T. Pierce, and F. Meier, Phys. Rev. B 13, 5484 (1976) @footnote 2@F. Ciccacci, E. Vescovo, G. Chiaia, S. De Rossi, and M. Tosca, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 63, 3333 (1992) @footnote 3@Takashi Komesu, C. Waldfried, Hae-Kyung Jeong, D.P. Pappas, T. Rammer, M.E. Johnston, T.J. Gay and P.A. Dowben, in: Laser Diodes and LEDs in Industrial, Measurement, Imaging and Sensor Applications II: Testing, Packaging, and Reliability of Semiconductor Lasers V, Edited by Geoffry T. Burnham, Xiaoguang He, Kurt J. Linden and S.C. Wang, Proceedings of the SPIE 3945, 6 (2000) .