Resonant Scattering of Polarized X-Rays at the 4d Edge of Gadolinium

The impact of resonant scattering of Polarized X-rays is illustrated taking the the gadolinium 4d edge energy range as an example. It is shown that: (i) the study of the reflection of linearly polarized light by a magnetized Gd sample gives information on the electronic states of the system, similar to that given by magnetic circular dichroism in absorption; (ii)the energy loss peaks corresponding to spin-flip transitions in the 4d->4f excitation exhibit a strong circular dichroism.