Theory of magnetic circular dichroism in Ce L2,3-edges of mixed valence compound CeFe2 Original Research Article

Theoretical analysis of the magnetic circular dichroism at Ce L2,3 edges in X-ray absorption spectra (XAS) of mixed valence compound CeFe2 is presented. Impurity Anderson model is used to describe the valence mixing between Ce 4f orbital and Fe 3d band with LCAO approach to describe the band nature of the Fe 3d and Ce 5d states. Our results reproduce well the two-peak structure observed both in XAS and MCD experiments, especially their energy positions and spectral widths. Anomalously small magnetic moment is consistent with our model.