The Nature and Validity of the RKKY limit of exchange coupling in magnetic trilayers

The effects on the exchange coupling in magnetic trilayers due to the presence of a spin-independent potential well are investigated. It is shown that within the RKKY theory no bias nor extra periods of oscillation associated with the depth of the well are found, contrary to what has been claimed in recent works. The range of validity of the RKKY theory is also discussed.Comment: 10, RevTe

Fundamental Oscillation Periods of the Interlayer Exchange Coupling beyond the RKKY Approximation

A general method for obtaining the oscillation periods of the interlayer exchange coupling is presented. It is shown that it is possible for the coupling to oscillate with additional periods beyond the ones predicted by the RKKY theory. The relation between the oscillation periods and the spacer Fermi surface is clarified, showing that non-RKKY periods do not bear a direct correspondence with the Fermi surface. The interesting case of a FCC(110) structure is investigated, unmistakably proving the existence and relevance of non-RKKY oscillations. The general conditions for the occurrence of non-RKKY oscillations are also presented.Comment: 34 pages, 10 figures ; to appear in J. Phys.: Condens. Mat

Model for spin coupling disorder effects on the susceptibility of antiferromagnetic nanochains

The temperature dependence of the static magnetic susceptibility of exchange-disordered antiferromagnetic Heisenberg spin-1/2 finite chains with an odd number of spins is investigated as a function of size and type of disorder in the exchange coupling. Two models for the exchange disorder distribution are considered. At sufficiently low temperatures each chain behaves like an isolated spin-1/2 particle. As the size of the chains increases, this analogy is lost and the chains evolve into the thermodynamic limit behavior. The present study provides a simple criterion, based on susceptibility measurements, to establish when odd-sized chains effectively simulate a single spin-1/2 particle.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure

Magnetic behavior of nanoparticles in patterned thin films

The magnetic behavior of truncated conical nanoparticles in patterned thin films is investigated as a function of their size and shape. Using a scaling technique, phase diagrams giving the relative stability of characteristic internal magnetic structures of the particles are obtained. The role of the uniaxial anisotropy in determining the magnetic properties of such systems is discussed, and a simple method for stablishing its strength is proposed.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Hole concentration in a diluted ferromagnetic semiconductor

We consider a mean-field approach to the hole-mediated ferromagnetism in III-V Mn-based semiconductor compounds to discuss the dependence of the hole density on that of Mn sites in Ga_{1-x}Mn_xAs. The hole concentration, p, as a function of the fraction of Mn sites, x, is parametrized in terms of the product m*J_{pd}^2 (where m* is the hole effective mass and J_{pd} is the Kondo-like hole/local-moment coupling), and the critical temperature Tc. By using experimental data for these quantities, we have established the dependence of the hole concentration with x, which can be associated with the occurrence of a reentrant metal-insulator transition taking place in the hole gas. We also calculate the dependence of the Mn magnetization with x, for different temperatures (T), and found that as T increases, the width of the composition-dependent magnetization decreases drammatically, and that the magnetization maxima also decreases, indicating the need for quality-control of Mn-doping composition in diluted magnetic semiconductor devices.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, RevTeX 3; Fig. 1 changed, new references adde

Exchange coupling between magnetic layers across non-magnetic superlattices

The oscillation periods of the interlayer exchange coupling are investigated when two magnetic layers are separated by a metallic superlattice of two distinct non-magnetic materials. In spite of the conventional behaviour of the coupling as a function of the spacer thickness, new periods arise when the coupling is looked upon as a function of the number of cells of the superlattice. The new periodicity results from the deformation of the corresponding Fermi surface, which is explicitly related to a few controllable parameters, allowing the oscillation periods to be tuned.Comment: 13 pages; 5 figures; To appear in J. Phys.: Cond. Matte

Quantum Diffusion and Localization in Disordered Electronic Systems

The diffusion of electronic wave packets in one-dimensional systems with on-site, binary disorder is numerically investigated within the framework of a single-band tight-binding model. Fractal properties are incorporated by assuming that the distribution of distances $\ell$ between consecutive impurities obeys a power law, $P(\ell) \sim \ell^{-\alpha}$. For suitable ranges of $\alpha$, one finds system-wide anomalous diffusion. Asymmetric diffusion effects are introduced through the application of an external electric field, leading to results similar to those observed in the case of photogenerated electron-hole plasmas in tilted InP/InGaAs/InP quantum wells.Comment: RevTex4, 6 pages, 6 .eps figures: published versio