Influence of complex disorder on skew-scattering Hall effects in L10L1_0-ordered FePt alloy

We show by first-principles calculations that the skew-scattering anomalous Hall and spin-Hall angles of L$1_0$-ordered FePt drastically depend on different types of disorder. A different sign of the AHE is obtained when slightly deviating from the stoichiometric ratio towards the Fe-rich side as compared to the Pt-rich side. For stoichiometric samples, short-range ordering of defects has a profound effect on the Hall angles and can change them by a factor of $2$ as compared to the case of uncorrelated disorder. This might explain the vast range of anomalous Hall angles measured in experiments, which undergo different preparation procedures and thus might differ in their crystallographic quality

Spin-flip hot spots in ultrathin films of monovalent metals: Enhancement and anisotropy of the Elliott-Yafet parameter

In contrast to the long-known fact that spin-flip hot spots, i.e., special \vc{k}-points on the Fermi surface showing a high spin-mixing parameter, do not occur in the bulk of monovalent (noble and alkali) metals, we found them on the surface Brillouin-zone boundary of ultrathin films of these metals. Density-functional calculations within the Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker Green function method for ultrathin (001) oriented Cu, Ag, and Au films of 10-layer thickness show that the region around the hot spots can have a substantial contribution, e.g.\ 52\% in Au(001), to the integrated spin-mixing parameter, that could lead to a significant enhancement of the spin-relaxation rate or spin-Hall angle in thin films. Owing to the appearance of spin-flip hot-spots, a large anisotropy of the Elliott-Yafet parameter [50\% for Au(001)] is also found in these systems. The findings are important for spintronics applications in which noble-metals are frequently used and in which the dimensionality of the sample is reduced.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure

Spin relaxation and spin Hall transport in 5d transition-metal ultrathin films

The spin relaxation induced by the Elliott-Yafet mechanism and the extrinsic spin Hall conductivity due to the skew-scattering are investigated in 5d transition-metal ultrathin films with self-adatom impurities as scatterers. The values of the Elliott-Yafet parameter and of the spin-flip relaxation rate reveal a correlation with each other that is in agreement with the Elliott approximation. At 10-layer thickness, the spin-flip relaxation time in 5d transition-metal films is quantitatively reported about few hundred nanoseconds at atomic percent which is one and two orders of magnitude shorter than that in Au and Cu thin films, respectively. The anisotropy effect of the Elliott-Yafet parameter and of the spin-flip relaxation rate with respect to the direction of the spin-quantization axis in relation to the crystallographic axes is also analyzed. We find that the anisotropy of the spin-flip relaxation rate is enhanced due to the Rashba surface states on the Fermi surface, reaching values as high as 97% in 10-layer Hf(0001) film or 71% in 10-layer W(110) film. Finally, the spin Hall conductivity as well as the spin Hall angle due to the skew-scattering off self-adatom impurities are calculated using the Boltzmann approach. Our calculations employ a relativistic version of the first-principles full-potential Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker Green function method

Evolution of Nuclear Shell Structure due to the Pion Exchange Potential

The evolution of nuclear shell structure is investigated for the first time within density-dependent relativistic Hartree-Fock theory and the role of $\pi$-exchange potential is studied in detail. The energy differences between the neutron orbits \Lrb{\nu1h_{9/2},\nu 1i_{13/2}} in the N=82 isotones and between the proton ones \Lrb{\pi1g_{7/2},\pi1h_{11/2}} in the Z=50 isotopes are extracted as a function of neutron excess $N-Z$. A kink around $Z = 58$ for the N=82 isotones is found as an effect resulting from pion correlations. It is shown that the inclusion of $\pi$-coupling plays a central role to provide realistic isospin dependence of the energy differences. In particular, the tensor part of the $\pi$-coupling has an important effect on the characteristic isospin dependence observed in recent experiments.Comment: 4 pages and 4 figure

Non-local field-like spin-orbit torques in Rashba systems: an ab-initio study of Ag2_{2}Bi/Ag/Fe film

We investigate from first principles the field-like spin-orbit torques (SOTs) in a Ag$_{2}$Bi-terminated Ag(111) film grown on ferromagnetic Fe(110). We find that a large part of the SOT arises from the spin-orbit interaction (SOI) in the Ag$_{2}$Bi layer far away from the Fe layers. These results clearly hint at a long range spin transfer in the direction perpendicular to the film that does not originate in the spin Hall effect. In order to bring evidence of the non-local character of the computed SOT, we show that the torque acting on the Fe layers can be engineered by the introduction of Bi vacancies in the Ag$_{2}$Bi layer. Overall, we find a drastic dependence of the SOT on the disorder type, which we explain by a complex interplay of different contributions to the SOT in the Brillouin zone

Strong spin-orbit fields and Dyakonov-Perel spin dephasing in supported metallic films

Spin dephasing by the Dyakonov-Perel mechanism in metallic films deposited on insulating substrates is revealed, and quantitatively examined by means of density functional calculations combined with a kinetic equation. The surface-to-substrate asymmetry, probed by the metal wave functions in thin films, is found to produce strong spin-orbit fields and a fast Larmor precession, giving a dominant contribution to spin decay over the Elliott-Yafet spin relaxation up to a thickness of 70 nm. The spin dephasing is oscillatory in time with a rapid (sub-picosecond) initial decay. However, parts of the Fermi surface act as spin traps, causing a persistent tail signal lasting 1000 times longer than the initial decay time. It is also found that the decay depends on the direction of the initial spin polarization, resulting in a spin-dephasing anisotropy of 200% in the examined cases

The Higgs Sector of the Minimal 3 3 1 Model Revisited

The mass spectrum and the eigenstates of the Higgs sector of the minimal 3 3 1 model are revisited in detail. There are discrepancies between our results and previous results by another author.Comment: 20 pages, latex, two figures. One note and one reference are adde