title: Electron-spin motion: a new tool to study ferromagnetic films and surfaces.
abstract: When electrons are interacting with a ferromagnetic material, their spin-polarization vector is expected to move. This spin motion, comprising an azimuthal precession and a polar rotation about the magnetization direction of the ferromagnet, has been studied in spin-polarized electron scattering experiments both in transmission and reflection geometry. In this review we show that electron-spin motion can be considered as a new tool to study ferromagnetic films and surfaces and we discuss its application to a number of different problems: (a) the transmission of spin-polarized electrons across ferromagnetic films, (b) the influence of spin-dependent gaps in the electronic band structure on the spin motion in reflection geometry, (c) interference experiments with spin-polarized electrons and (d) the influence of lattice relaxations in ferromagnetic films on the spin motion.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Physique et Chimie des Matériaux de Strasbourg, UDS-CNRS, 23 rue du Loess, BP 43, F-67034 Strasbourg Cedex 2, France.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dey
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Weber