282 research outputs found
Half-metallic ferromagnets for magnetic tunnel junctions
Using theoretical arguments, we show that, in order to exploit half-metallic
ferromagnets in tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) junctions, it is crucial to
eliminate interface states at the Fermi level within the half-metallic gap;
contrary to this, no such problem arises in giant magnetoresistance elements.
Moreover, based on an a priori understanding of the electronic structure, we
propose an antiferromagnetically coupled TMR element, in which interface states
are eliminated, as a paradigm of materials design from first principles. Our
conclusions are supported by ab-initio calculations
Introduction to half-metallic Heusler alloys: Electronic Structure and Magnetic Properties
Intermetallic Heusler alloys are amongst the most attractive half-metallic
systems due to the high Curie temperatures and the structural similarity to the
binary semiconductors. In this review we present an overview of the basic
electronic and magnetic properties of both Heusler families: the so-called
half-Heusler alloys like NiMnSb and the the full-Heusler alloys like
CoMnGe. \textit{Ab-initio} results suggest that both the electronic and
magnetic properties in these compounds are intrinsically related to the
appearance of the minority-spin gap. The total spin magnetic moment
scales linearly with the number of the valence electrons , such that
for the full-Heusler and for the half-Heusler alloys,
thus opening the way to engineer new half-metallic alloys with the desired
magnetic properties.Comment: 28 pages, submitted for a special issue of 'Journal of Physics D:
Applied Physics' on Heusler alloy
Thermal collapse of spin-polarization in half-metallic ferromagnets
The temperature dependence of the magnetization and spin-polarization at the
Fermi level is investigated for half-metallic ferromagnets. We reveal a new
mechanism, where the hybridization of states forming the half-metallic gap
depends on thermal spin fluctuations and the polarization can drop abruptly at
temperatures much lower than the Curie point. We verify this for NiMnSb by
ab-initio calculations. The thermal properties are studied by mapping ab-initio
results to an extended Heisenberg model which includes longitudinal
fluctuations and is solved by a Monte Carlo method
Coordination Dependence of Hyperfine Fields of 5sp Impurities on Ni Surfaces
We present first-principles calculations of the magnetic hyperfine fields H
of 5sp impurities on the (001), (111), and (110) surfaces of Ni. We examine the
dependence of H on the coordination number by placing the impurity in the
surfaces, on top of them at the adatom positions, and in the bulk. We find a
strong coordination dependence of H, different and characteristic for each
impurity. The behavior is explained in terms of the on-site s-p hybridization
as the symmetry is reduced at the surface. Our results are in agreement with
recent experimental findings.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
First-principles calculations of exchange interactions, spin waves, and temperature dependence of magnetization in inverse-Heusler-based spin gapless semiconductors
Employing first principles electronic structure calculations in conjunction
with the frozen-magnon method we calculate exchange interactions, spin-wave
dispersion, and spin-wave stiffness constants in inverse-Heusler-based spin
gapless semiconductor (SGS) compounds MnCoAl, TiMnAl, CrZnSi,
TiCoSi and TiVAs. We find that their magnetic behavior is similar to
the half-metallic ferromagnetic full-Heusler alloys, i.e., the intersublattice
exchange interactions play an essential role in the formation of the magnetic
ground state and in determining the Curie temperature, . All
compounds, except TiCoSi possess a ferrimagnetic ground state. Due to the
finite energy gap in one spin channel, the exchange interactions decay sharply
with the distance, and hence magnetism of these SGSs can be described
considering only nearest and next-nearest neighbor exchange interactions. The
calculated spin-wave dispersion curves are typical for ferrimagnets and
ferromagnets. The spin-wave stiffness constants turn out to be larger than
those of the elementary 3-ferromagnets. Calculated exchange parameters are
used as input to determine the temperature dependence of the magnetization and
of the SGSs. We find that the of all compounds is
much above the room temperature. The calculated magnetization curve for
MnCoAl as well as the Curie temperature are in very good agreement with
available experimental data. The present study is expected to pave the way for
a deeper understanding of the magnetic properties of the inverse-Heusler-based
SGSs and enhance the interest in these materials for application in spintronic
and magnetoelectronic devices.Comment: Accepted for publ;ication in Physical Review
Ballistic Spin Injection from Fe into ZnSe and GaAs with a (001), (111), and (110) orientation
We present first-principles calculations of ballistic spin injection in
Fe/GaAs and Fe/ZnSe junctions with orientation (001), (111), and (110). We find
that the symmetry mismatch of the Fe minority-spin states with the
semiconductor conduction states can lead to extremely high spin polarization of
the current through the (001) interface for hot and thermal injection
processes. Such a symmetry mismatch does not exist for the (111) and (110)
interfaces, where smaller spin injection efficiencies are found. The presence
of interface states is found to lower the current spin polarization, both with
and without a Schottky barrier. Finally, a higher bias can also affect the spin
injection efficiency.Comment: 12 pages, 18 figure
Tuning the Curie temperature of FeCo compounds by tetragonal distortion
Combining density-functional theory calculations with a classical Monte Carlo
method, we show that for B2-type FeCo compounds tetragonal distortion gives
rise to a strong reduction of the Curie temperature . The
monotonically decreases from 1575 K (for ) to 940 K
(for c/a=\sqrtwo). We find that the nearest neighbor Fe-Co exchange
interaction is sufficient to explain the behavior of the
. Combination of high magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy with
a moderate value suggests tetragonal FeCo grown on the Rh
substrate with to be a promising material for heat-assisted magnetic
recording applications.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
Half-metallic ferromagnetism induced by dynamic electron correlations in VAs
The electronic structure of the VAs compound in the zinc-blende structure is
investigated using a combined density-functional and dynamical mean-field
theory approach. Contrary to predictions of a ferromagnetic semiconducting
ground state obtained by density-functional calculations, dynamical
correlations induce a closing of the gap and produce a half-metallic
ferromagnetic state. These results emphasize the importance of dynamic
correlations in materials suitable for spintronics.Comment: Published in Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 197203 (2006
Magnetic tunneling junctions with the Heusler compound Co_2Cr_{0.6}Fe_{0.4}Al
The Heusler alloy is used as an electrode of magnetic tunneling junctions.
The junctions are deposited by magnetron dc sputtering using shadow mask
techniques with AlO_{x} as a barrier and cobalt as counter electrode.
Measurements of the magnetoresistive differential conductivity in a temperature
range between 4K and 300K are shown. An analysis of the barrier properties
applying the Simmons model to the bias dependent junction conductivity is
performed. VSM measurements were carried out to examine the magnetic properties
of the samples.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures submitted to JMMM (proceedings of JEMS04
Changing the Magnetic Configurations of Nanoclusters Atom-by-Atom
The Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker Green (KKR) function method for non-collinear
magnetic structures was applied on Mn and Cr ad-clusters deposited on the
Ni(111) surface. By considering various dimers, trimers and tetramers, a large
amount of collinear and non-collinear magnetic structures is obtained.
Typically all compact clusters have very small total moments, while the more
open structures exhibit sizeable total moments, which is a result of the
complex frustration mechanism in these systems. Thus, as the motion of a single
adatom changes the cluster structure from compact to open and vice versa, this
can be considered as a magnetic switch, which via the local exchange field of
the adatom allows to switch the cluster moment on and off, and which might be
useful for future nanosize information storage.Comment: 7 page
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