275 research outputs found
Impurity scattering and quantum confinement in giant magnetoresistance systems
Ab initio calculations for the giant magnetoresistance (GMR) in Co/Cu, Fe/Cr,
and Fe/Au multilayers are presented. The electronic structure of the
multilayers and the scattering potentials of point defects therein are
calculated self-consistently. Residual resistivities are obtained by solving
the quasi-classical Boltzmann equation including the electronic structure of
the layered system, the anisotropic scattering cross sections derived by a
Green's function method and the vertex corrections. Furthermore, the influence
of scattering centers at the interfaces and within the metallic layers is
incorporated by averaging the scattering cross sections of different impurities
at various sites. An excellent agreement of experimental and theoretical
results concerning the general trend of GMR in Co/Cu systems depending on the
type and the position of impurities is obtained. Due to the quantum confinement
in magnetic multilayers GMR can be tailored as a function of the impurity
position. In Co/Cu and Fe/Au systems impurities in the magnetic layer lead to
high GMR values, whereas in Fe/Cr systems defects at the interfaces are most
efficient to increase GMR.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure
Thermoelectric transport in strained Si and Si/Ge heterostructures
The anisotropic thermoelectric transport properties of bulk silicon strained
in [111]-direction were studied by detailed first-principles calculations
focussing on a possible enhancement of the power factor. Electron as well as
hole doping were examined in a broad doping and temperature range. At low
temperature and low doping an enhancement of the power factor was obtained for
compressive and tensile strain in the electron-doped case and for compressive
strain in the hole-doped case. For the thermoelectrically more important high
temperature and high doping regime a slight enhancement of the power factor was
only found under small compressive strain with the power factor overall being
robust against applied strain. To extend our findings the anisotropic
thermoelectric transport of an [111]-oriented Si/Ge superlattice was
investigated. Here, the cross-plane power factor under hole-doping was
drastically suppressed due to quantum-well effects, while under electron-doping
an enhanced power factor was found. With that, we state a figure of merit of
ZT and ZT at T=\unit[300]{K} and T=\unit[900]{K} for the
electron-doped [111]-oriented Si/Ge superlattice. All results are discussed in
terms of band structure features
Skyrmion ratchet propagation: utilizing the skyrmion Hall effect in AC racetrack storage devices
Magnetic skyrmions are whirl-like nano-objects with topological protection. When driven by direct currents, skyrmions move but experience a transverse deflection. This so-called skyrmion Hall effect is often regarded a drawback for memory applications. Herein, we show that this unique effect can also be favorable for spintronic applications: We show that in a racetrack with a broken inversion symmetry, the skyrmion Hall effect allows to translate an alternating current into a directed motion along the track, like in a ratchet. We analyze several modes of the ratchet mechanism and show that it is unique for topological magnetic whirls. We elaborate on the fundamental differences compared to the motion of topologically trivial magnetic objects, as well as classical particles driven by periodic forces. Depending on the exact racetrack geometry, the ratchet mechanism can be soft or strict. In the latter case, the skyrmion propagates close to the efficiency maximum
Microscopic origin of the anomalous Hall effect in noncollinear kagome magnets
The anomalous Hall effect is commonly considered a signature of ferromagnetism. However, recently, an enormous anomalous Hall conductivity was measured in the compensated kagome magnets Mn3Sn and Mn3Ge. The occurrence of this effect is allowed by the magnetic point group of these materials; however, its emergence is still lacking a microscopic explanation. Herein we show that the spin-orbit coupling and an out-of-plane tilting of the texture are equivalent for several kagome magnets. Consequently, a coplanar system with spin-orbit coupling behaves as if it were virtually noncoplanar. We show via tight-binding model calculations that the Hall effect can mainly be interpreted as a topological Hall effect generated by the opening angle of the virtually tilted texture. Furthermore, upon tilting the fixed texture out of the kagome plane, we find a critical tilting angle for which the Hall conductivity vanishes for all energies. In this case, the Hamiltonian is invariant under a combined time-reversal and mirror symmetry, because the virtual texture is coplanar
Tunneling of Bloch electrons through vacuum barrier
Tunneling of Bloch electrons through a vacuum barrier introduces new physical
effects in comparison with the textbook case of free (plane wave) electrons.
For the latter, the exponential decay rate in the vacuum is minimal for
electrons with the parallel component of momentum , and
the prefactor is defined by the electron momentum component in the normal to
the surface direction. However, the decay rate of Bloch electrons may be
minimal at an arbitrary (``hot spots''), and the prefactor
is determined by the electron's group velocity, rather than by its
quasimomentum.Comment: 4 pages, no fig
First principles design of Ohmic spin diodes based on quaternary Heusler compounds
The Ohmic spin diode (OSD) is a recent concept in spintronics, which is based
on half-metallic magnets (HMMs) and spin-gapless semiconductors (SGSs).
Quaternary Heusler compounds offer a unique platform to realize the OSD for
room temperature applications as these materials possess very high Curie
temperatures as well as half-metallic and spin-gapless semiconducting behavior
within the same family. Using state-of-the-art first-principles calculations
combined with the non-equilibrium Green's function method we design four
different OSDs based on half-metallic and spin-gapless semiconducting
quaternary Heusler compounds. All four OSDs exhibit linear current-voltage
() characteristics with zero threshold voltage . We show that these
OSDs possess a small leakage current, which stems from the overlap of the
conduction and valence band edges of opposite spin channels around the Fermi
level in the SGS electrodes. The obtained on/off current ratios vary between
and . Our results can pave the way for the experimental fabrication
of the OSDs within the family of ordered quaternary Heusler compounds.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure
On calculating the Berry curvature of Bloch electrons using the KKR method
We propose and implement a particularly effective method for calculating the
Berry curvature arising from adiabatic evolution of Bloch states in wave vector
k space. The method exploits a unique feature of the Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker
(KKR) approach to solve the Schr\"odinger or Dirac equations. Namely, it is
based on the observation that in the KKR method k enters the calculation via
the structure constants which depend only on the geometry of the lattice but
not the crystal potential. For both the Abelian and non-Abelian Berry curvature
we derive an analytic formula whose evaluation does not require any numerical
differentiation with respect to k. We present explicit calculations for Al, Cu,
Au, and Pt bulk crystals.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figure
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