Spin-Dependent Absorption of Electrons in a Ferromagnetic Metal

Abstract
It is found that the current collected by a ferromagnet placed in an electron beam depends on the orientation of the incident electron spin. At certain energies, only electrons with spins parallel or antiparallel to the net surface spin density cause a net target current. The spin dependence is caused by the influence of the exchange interaction on the elastic scattering. Inelastic scattering measurements show that the spin dependence of the production of secondary electrons is small.