Standing wave approach in the theory of X-ray magnetic reflectivity

An extension of the exact X-ray resonant magnetic reflectivity theory has been developed, taking into account the small value of the magnetic terms in the X-ray susceptibility tensor. It is shown that squared standing waves (fourth power of the total electric field) determine the output of the magnetic addition to the total reflectivity from a magnetic multilayer. The obtained generalized kinematical approach essentially speeds up the calculation of the asymmetry ratio in the magnetic reflectivity. The developed approach easily explains the peculiarities of the angular dependence of the reflectivity with the rotated polarization (such as the peak at the critical angle of the total external reflection). The revealed dependence of the magnetic part of the total reflectivity on the squared standing waves means that the selection of the reflectivity with the rotated polarization ensures higher sensitivity to the depth profiles of magnetization than the secondary radiation at the specular reflection condition. © 2019 International Union of Crystallography.