Spectra and Spin Polarization of the Valence Band Auger Emission from Cr (100) Surface

Calculations have been carried out on spin-polarized Auger electron emission from a seven-layer chromium (100)-film. The core and valence states concerning the Auger transition are obtained from a self-consistent full-potential linearized augmented plane wave calculation by using a repeated slab geometry. The calculations refer to experiments on the L₃M₂₃V- and L₃VV-transitions that have recently been carried out by Heinzmann et al. The Auger spectrum obtained for the L₃VV transition agrees relatively well with our calculations whereas the observed L₃M₂₃V-Auger structure is considerably wider than that predicted by our theory. Nevertheless, the spin-polarization in the latter case, which is about -13%, is in fair agreement with the experiment, different from the L₃VV-transition where the experiment yields -10% as opposed to the theoretical value of -25%. We give possible reasons for the origin of these discrepancies.