Anisotropic X-ray magnetic linear dichroism Its importance for the analysis of soft x-ray spectra of magnetic oxides

Using spectroscopic information for x ray magnetometry and magnetic microscopy requires detailed theoretical understanding of spectral shape and magnitude of dichroism signals. We have shown unambiguously that-contrary to common belief-spectral shape and magnitude of x ray magnetic linear dichroism (XMLD) are not only determined by the relative orientation of magnetic moments and x ray polarization, but also their orientations relative to the crystallographic axes must be taken into account for accurate interpretation of XMLD data.