Importance of Matrix Elements in the ARPES Spectra of BISCO

We have carried out extensive first-principles angle-resolved photointensity (ARPES) simulations in Bi2212 wherein the photoemission process is modeled realistically by taking into account the full crystal wave functions of the initial and final states in the presence of the surface. The spectral weight of the ARPES feature associated with the CuO{sub 2} plane bands is found to undergo large and systematic variations with k{sub (parallel} {sub sign)} as well as the energy and polarization of the incident photons. These theoretical predictions are in good accord with the corresponding measurements, indicating that the remarkable observed changes in the spectral weights in Bi2212 are essentially a matrix element effect and that the importance of matrix elements should be kept in mind in analyzing the ARPES spectra in the high T{sub c} 's. (c) 1999 The American Physical Society.