Gofron 9704194 This award supports a 24 month Science and Technology Agency of Japan (STA) Postdoctoral Fellowship for Dr. Kazimierz Gofron at the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI), Kamigori, Japan. Dr. Gofron will work with Dr. Jun'ichiro Mizuki, Lead Scientist at the Spring-8 Facility, on a research project entitled, "Novel Element-Specific Studies of Magnetic Materials." The proposed research will use a magnetic circular x-ray dichroism technique (MCXD) in conjunction with photoemission and conventional magnetic probe to study the element specific magnetism of magneto- optic materials. The novel, high-resolution magnetic study will focus on both the empty and occupied electronic states. Attention will also be paid to orbital specificity. In these synchrotron radiation experiments the polarized x-ray photons will be used as an element sensitive magnetic probe for precisely monitoring the electronic structure of specific atomic species in magneto-optic material. As magneto-optic materials are currently used in data storage, of particular interest are materials with a large Kerr effect, the rotation of the plane of polarization of incident linearly polarized light. One of the foremost goals of the research is to better understand how individual chemical species contributes to magnetism and magneto-optic response, as well as obtain insight as to how each orbital of a given atomic species contributes to the magneto-optic response. ***
