Experimental Verification of the Fano Effect

Abstract
An absolute measurement of the electron polarization obtained by photoionization of cesium by circularly polarized light is reported. The measured polarization of 65 ± 15% confirms the prediction made by Fano and the assumptions of Seaton on spin-orbit interaction in photoionization of alkali atoms. They also show that it is possible to construct a photoionization source of polarized electrons without using a polarized atom beam.