Spin-filter effect of the europium chalcogenides: An exactly solved many-body model

A model Hamiltonian is introduced which considers the main features of the experimental spin filter situation as s-f interaction, planar geometry and the strong external electric field. The proposed many-body model can be solved analytically and exactly using Green functions. The spin polarization of the field-emitted electrons is expressed in terms of spin-flip probabilities, which on their part are put down to the exactly known dynamic quantities of the system. The calculated electron spin polarization shows remarkable dependencies on the electron velocity perpendicular to the emitting plane and the strength of s-f coupling. Experimentally observed polarization values of about 90% are well understood within the framework of the proposed model.Comment: accepted (Physical Review B); 10 pages, 11 figures; http://orion.physik.hu-berlin.de

The temperature dependent bandstructure of a ferromagnetic semiconductor film

The electronic quasiparticle spectrum of a ferromagnetic film is investigated within the framework of the s-f model. Starting from the exact solvable case of a single electron in an otherwise empty conduction band being exchange coupled to a ferromagnetically saturated localized spin system we extend the theory to finite temperatures. Our approach is a moment-conserving decoupling procedure for suitable defined Green functions. The theory for finite temperatures evolves continuously from the exact limiting case. The restriction to zero conduction band occupation may be regarded as a proper model description for ferromagnetic semiconductors like EuO and EuS. Evaluating the theory for a simple cubic film cut parallel to the (100) crystal plane, we find some marked correlation effects which depend on the spin of the test electron, on the exchange coupling, and on the temperature of the local-moment system.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figure

Spin-polarized tunneling currents through a ferromagnetic insulator between two metallic or superconducting leads

Using the Keldysh formalism the tunneling current through a hybrid structure where a confined magnetic insulator (I) is sandwiched between two non-magnetic leads is calculated. The leads can be either normal metals (M) or superconductors (S). Each region is modelled as a single band in tight-binding approximation in order to understand the formation of the tunneling current as clearly as possible. The tunneling process itself is simulated by a hybridization between the lead and insulator conduction bands. The insulator is assumed to have localized moments which can interact with the tunneling electrons. This is described by the Kondo Lattice Model (KLM) and treated within an interpolating self-energy approach. For the superconductor the mean-field BCS theory is used. The spin polarization of the current shows a strong dependence both on the applied voltage and the properties of the materials. Even for this idealized three band model there is a qualitative agreement with experiment.Comment: 15 pages, 23 figures, accepted for publication in PR

Quantum effects in the quasiparticle structure of the ferromagnetic Kondo lattice model

A new ``Dynamical Mean-field theory'' based approach for the Kondo lattice model with quantum spins is introduced. The inspection of exactly solvable limiting cases and several known approximation methods, namely the second-order perturbation theory, the self-consistent CPA and finally a moment-conserving decoupling of the equations of motion help in evaluating the new approach. This comprehensive investigation gives some certainty to our results: Whereas our method is somewhat limited in the investigation of the J<0-model, the results for J>0 reveal important aspects of the physics of the model: The energetically lowest states are not completely spin-polarized.A band splitting, which occurs already for relatively low interaction strengths, can be related to distinct elementary excitations, namely magnon emission (absorption) and the formation of magnetic polarons. We demonstrate the properties of the ferromagnetic Kondo lattice model in terms of spectral densities and quasiparticle densities of states.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figure

Carrier induced ferromagnetism in concentrated and diluted local-moment systems

For modeling the magnetic properties of concentrated and diluted magnetic semiconductors, we use the Kondo-lattice model. The magnetic phase diagram is derived by inspecting the static susceptibility of itinerant band electrons, which are exchange coupled to localized magnetic moments. It turns out that rather low band occupations favour a ferromagnetic ordering of the local moment systems due to an indirect coupling mediated by a spin polarization of the itinerant charge carriers. The disorder in diluted systems is treated by adding a CPA-type concept to the theory. For almost all moment concentrations x, ferromagnetism is possible, however, only for carrier concentrations n distinctly smaller than x. The charge carrier compensation in real magnetic semiconductors (in Ga_{1-x}Mn_{x}As by e.g. antisites) seems to be a necessary condition for getting carrier induced ferromagnetism.Comment: 9 pages (REVTeX), 6 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev.

Kondo-lattice model: Application to the temperature-dependent electronic structure of EuO(100) films

We present calculations for the temperature-dependent electronic structure and magnetic properties of thin ferromagnetic EuO films. The treatment is based on a combination of a multiband-Kondo lattice model with first-principles TB-LMTO band structure calculations. The method avoids the problem of double-counting of relevant interactions and takes into account the correct symmetry of the atomic orbitals. We discuss the temperature-dependent electronic structures of EuO(100) films in terms of quasiparticle densities of states and quasiparticle band structures. The Curie temperature T_C of the EuO films turns out to be strongly thickness-dependent, starting from a very low value = 15K for the monolayer and reaching the bulk value at about 25 layers

The absence of finite-temperature phase transitions in low-dimensional many-body models: a survey and new results

After a brief discussion of the Bogoliubov inequality and possible generalizations thereof, we present a complete review of results concerning the Mermin-Wagner theorem for various many-body systems, geometries and order parameters. We extend the method to cover magnetic phase transitions in the periodic Anderson Model as well as certain superconducting pairing mechanisms for Hubbard films. The relevance of the Mermin-Wagner theorem to approximations in many-body physics is discussed on a conceptual level.Comment: 33 pages; accepted for publication as a Topical Review in Journal of Physics: Condensed Matte

Influence of Spin Wave Excitations on the Ferromagnetic Phase Diagram in the Hubbard-Model

The subject of the present paper is the theoretical description of collective electronic excitations, i.e. spin waves, in the Hubbard-model. Starting with the widely used Random-Phase-Approximation, which combines Hartree-Fock theory with the summation of the two-particle ladder, we extend the theory to a more sophisticated single particle approximation, namely the Spectral-Density-Ansatz. Doing so we have to introduce a `screened` Coulomb-interaction rather than the bare Hubbard-interaction in order to obtain physically reasonable spinwave dispersions. The discussion following the technical procedure shows that comparison of standard RPA with our new approximation reduces the occurrence of a ferromagnetic phase further with respect to the phase-diagrams delivered by the single particle theories.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures, RevTex4, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Theory of Spin-Resolved Auger-Electron Spectroscopy from Ferromagnetic 3d-Transition Metals

CVV Auger electron spectra are calculated for a multi-band Hubbard model including correlations among the valence electrons as well as correlations between core and valence electrons. The interest is focused on the ferromagnetic 3d-transition metals. The Auger line shape is calculated from a three-particle Green function. A realistic one-particle input is taken from tight-binding band-structure calculations. Within a diagrammatic approach we can distinguish between the \textit{direct} correlations among those electrons participating in the Auger process and the \textit{indirect} correlations in the rest system. The indirect correlations are treated within second-order perturbation theory for the self-energy. The direct correlations are treated using the valence-valence ladder approximation and the first-order perturbation theory with respect to valence-valence and core-valence interactions. The theory is evaluated numerically for ferromagnetic Ni. We discuss the spin-resolved quasi-particle band structure and the Auger spectra and investigate the influence of the core hole.Comment: LaTeX, 12 pages, 8 eps figures included, Phys. Rev. B (in press