Patent ID: 7403592

Claim:
Apparatus for determining the magnetic characteristics of a magnetic material, the apparatus comprising: a phase retarder for converting a linearly polarized incident x-ray beam to a circularly polarized x-ray beam, wherein said circularly polarized x-ray beam alternates between left-handed (LH) and right-handed (RH) helicity at a given frequency and has energy selected to interact with a designated species of atoms in the magnetic material; a first detector for measuring the intensity of the circularly polarized x-ray beam incident on the magnetic material, wherein the circularly polarized x-ray beam is diffracted by atoms located at selected sites in the magnetic material to provide a diffracted beam; a second detector for detecting the diffracted beam; and a counter coupled to said first and second detectors for counting and comparing the intensities of the incident and diffracted x-ray beams having left-and-right-helicities, and providing an output signal representing the magnetic characteristics of a designated species of atoms at selected sites in the magnetic material.