The cross-section for magnetic Compton scattering up to 1 MeV

The energy dependence of the magnetic Compton cross-section was measured with elliptically polarised synchrotron radiation at five energies from 245.2 to 1000.5 keV at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) using a recently installed superconducting wavelength shifter, the sample was ferromagnetic iron. These measurements more than double the highest photon energy previously used in synchrotron radiation studies. It was found that the integrated intensity of the spin-dependent scattering was well described by the formula-for the differential cross-section, d sigma/d Omega, for free, stationary electrons. The optimisation of experiments designed to yield the spin-dependent Compton profile from the double differential cross-section, d(2) sigma/d Omega d omega do is discussed.