The spin polarisation of electrons due to elastic intramolecular double scattering from optically active molecules

A theory is presented to formulate Kessler's idea that intramolecular double scattering should cause initially unpolarised electrons to obtain a spin-polarisation component in the scattering plane if the electrons are scattered elastically by optically active molecules (1982). The theory leads to an approximate yet feasible formula for the in-plane polarisation, and is applied to 1,3-dimethylallene. The in-plane component is an oscillating function of the scattering angle. The maximum degree of this component is about 0.5*10 -6 -1*10 -8 at electron energies E=50-500 eV. These values are four to five orders of magnitude smaller than those of the perpendicular component. The difference from the in-plane polarisation in LEED is discussed within the framework of the present theory.