Local magnetic moment coupling of Gd on Fe(100) studied by magnetic dichroism in angular-dependent photoemission

We measured the magnetic linear dichroism in the angular distribution (MLDAD) of photoemission of thin Gd layers on Fe(100). At low photon energies large MLDAD asymmetries, up to 40%, in the Gd 4f photoemission were observed. The line shape and the photon-energy dependence of the measured MLDAD are in good agreement with theoretical results. Analysis of the Gd 4f and Fe 3p magnetic signals indicates an antiferromagnetic coupling between Gd and Fe, confirming previous findings. We also demonstrate that the MLDAD plus-minus feature is governed by the orbital magnetic moment of the core hole state.