Spin Polarization in Low-Energy Electron Diffraction from W(001)

A relativistic low-energy electron-diffraction theory has been modified to allow computations for energies up to 200 eV. Its application to W(001) yields intensity profiles in reasonable correspondence with experiment, and pronounced polarization profiles which show encouraging agreement with novel and as yet limited experimental data. A high sensitivity of the polarization profiles to displacement of the topmost layer suggests that spin polarization measurements could be valuable for structure determination of surfaces involving heavy atoms.