Determination of spin moments from magnetic EXAFS

It has been suggested in the literature to determine the spin moments of atoms in a magnetic material from the magnetic radial distribution functions obtained from magnetic extended x-ray-absorption fine structure. In the present paper the accuracy of such an approach is explored for the simple case of monatomic materials (elementary Gd, Tb, and Ho in the hcp structure) by the spin-only relativistic density-functional electron theory and the Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker Green's function method. It is shown that the suggested method yields reasonable values for the magnetic moments. By model calculations for a 13-atom cluster the problems are discussed, which may appear when the suggested method is applied to compounds with various types of atoms.