27 research outputs found
Andreev Reflection in Ferromagnet/Superconductor/Ferromagnet Double Junction Systems
We present a theory of Andreev reflection in a
ferromagnet/superconductor/ferromagnet double junction system. The spin
polarized quasiparticles penetrate to the superconductor in the range of
penetration depth from the interface by the Andreev reflection. When the
thickness of the superconductor is comparable to or smaller than the
penetration depth, the spin polarized quasiparticles pass through the
superconductor and therefore the electric current depends on the relative
orientation of magnetizations of the ferromagnets. The dependences of the
magnetoresistance on the thickness of the superconductor, temperature, the
exchange field of the ferromagnets and the height of the interfacial barriers
are analyzed. Our theory explains recent experimental results well.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Surface Half-Metallicity of CrAs in the Zinc-Blende Structure
The development of new techniques such as the molecular beam epitaxy have
enabled the growth of thin films of materials presenting novel properties.
Recently it was made possible to grow a CrAs thin-film in the zinc-blende
structure. In this contribution, the full-potential screened KKR method is used
to study the electronic and magnetic properties of bulk CrAs in this novel
phase as well as the Cr and As terminated (001) surfaces. Bulk CrAs is found to
be half-ferromagnetic for all three GaAs, AlAs and InAs experimental lattice
constants with a total spin magnetic moment of 3 . The Cr-terminated
surface retains the half-ferromagnetic character of the bulk, while in the case
of the As-termination the surface states destroy the gap in the minority-spin
band.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, new text, new titl
Spin Injection and Detection in Magnetic Nanostructures
We study theoretically the spin transport in a nonmagnetic metal connected to
ferromagnetic injector and detector electrodes. We derive a general expression
for the spin accumulation signal which covers from the metallic to the
tunneling regime. This enables us to discuss recent controversy on spin
injection and detection experiments. Extending the result to a superconducting
device, we find that the spin accumulation signal is strongly enhanced by
opening of the superconducting gap since a gapped superconductor is a low
carrier system for spin transport but not for charge. The enhancement is also
expected in semiconductor devices.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
First principles electronic structure of spinel LiCr2O4: A possible half-metal?
We have employed first-principles electronic structure calculations to
examine the hypothetical (but plausible) oxide spinel, LiCr2O4 with the d^{2.5}
electronic configuration. The cell (cubic) and internal (oxygen position)
structural parameters have been obtained for this compound through structural
relaxation in the first-principles framework. Within the one-electron band
picture, we find that LiCr2O4 is magnetic, and a candidate half-metal. The
electronic structure is substantially different from the closely related and
well known rutile half-metal CrO2. In particular, we find a smaller conduction
band width in the spinel compound, perhaps as a result of the distinct topology
of the spinel crystal structure, and the reduced oxidation state. The magnetism
and half-metallicity of LiCr2O4 has been mapped in the parameter space of its
cubic crystal structure. Comparisons with superconducting LiTi2O4 (d^{0.5}),
heavy-fermion LiV2O4 (d^{1.5}) and charge-ordering LiMn2O4 (d^{3.5}) suggest
the effectiveness of a nearly-rigid band picture involving simple shifts of the
position of E_F in these very different materials. Comparisons are also made
with the electronic structure of ZnV2O4 (d^{2}), a correlated insulator that
undergoes a structural and antiferromagnetic phase transition.Comment: 9 pages, 7 Figures, version as published in PR
The effect of the spin-orbit interaction on the band gap of half-metals
The spin-orbit interaction can cause a nonvanishing density of states (DOS)
within the minority-spin band gap of half-metals around the Fermi level. We
examine the magnitude of the effect in Heusler alloys, zinc-blende half metals
and diluted magnetic semiconductors, using first-principles calculations. We
find that the ratio of spin-down to spin-up DOS at the Fermi level can range
from below 1% (e.g. 0.5% for NiMnSb) over several percents (4.2% for (Ga,Mn)As)
to 13% for MnBi.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Spin-polarized transport and Andreev reflection in semiconductor/superconductor hybrid structures
We show that spin-polarized electron transmission across
semiconductor/superconductor (Sm/S) hybrid structures depends sensitively on
the degree of spin polarization as well as the strengths of potential and
spin-flip scattering at the interface. We demonstrate that increasing the Fermi
velocity mismatch in the Sm and S regions can lead to enhanced junction
transparency in the presence of spin polarization. We find that the Andreev
reflection amplitude at the superconducting gap energy is a robust measure of
the spin polarization magnitude, being independent of the strengths of
potential and spin-flip scattering and the Fermi velocity of the
superconductor.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
Spin current in ferromagnet/insulator/superconductor junctions
A theory of spin polarized tunneling spectroscopy based on a scattering
theory is given for tunneling junctions between ferromagnets and d-wave
superconductors. The spin filtering effect of an exchange field in the
insulator is also treated. We clarify that the properties of the Andreev
reflection are largely modified due to a presence of an exchange field in the
ferromagnets, and consequently the Andreev reflected quasiparticle shows an
evanescent-wave behavior depending on the injection angle of the quasiparticle.
Conductance formulas for the spin current as well as the charge current are
given as a function of the applied voltage and the spin-polarization in the
ferromagnet for arbitrary barrier heights. It is shown that the surface bound
states do not contribute to the spin current and that the zero-bias conductance
peak expected for a d-wave superconductor splits into two peaks under the
influence of the exchange interaction in the insulator.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figure
Spin-Polarized Transport Across an LaSrMnO/YBaCuO Interface: Role of Andreev Bound States
Transport across an
LaSr_{3}/YBa_{3}_{7}_{3}$/YBCO and Ag/YBCO. In all cases, YBCO is used as bottom layer to
eliminate the channel resistance and to minimize thermal effects. The observed
differential conductance re ects the role of Andreev bound states in a-b
planes, and brings out for the first time the suppression of such states by the
spin-polarized transport across the interface. The theoretical analysis of the
measured data reveals decay of the spin polarization near the LSMO surface with
temperature, consistent with the reported photoemission data.Comment: 5 pages LaTeX, 3 eps figures included, accepted by Physical Review
Quasiclassical description of transport through superconducting contacts
We present a theoretical study of transport properties through
superconducting contacts based on a new formulation of boundary conditions that
mimics interfaces for the quasiclassical theory of superconductivity. These
boundary conditions are based on a description of an interface in terms of a
simple Hamiltonian. We show how this Hamiltonian description is incorporated
into quasiclassical theory via a T-matrix equation by integrating out
irrelevant energy scales right at the onset. The resulting boundary conditions
reproduce results obtained by conventional quasiclassical boundary conditions,
or by boundary conditions based on the scattering approach. This formalism is
well suited for the analysis of magnetically active interfaces as well as for
calculating time-dependent properties such as the current-voltage
characteristics or as current fluctuations in junctions with arbitrary
transmission and bias voltage. This approach is illustrated with the
calculation of Josephson currents through a variety of superconducting
junctions ranging from conventional to d-wave superconductors, and to the
analysis of supercurrent through a ferromagnetic nanoparticle. The calculation
of the current-voltage characteristics and of noise is applied to the case of a
contact between two d-wave superconductors. In particular, we discuss the use
of shot noise for the measurement of charge transferred in a multiple Andreev
reflection in d-wave superconductors
Half-metallicity and Slater-Pauling behavior in the ferromagnetic Heusler alloys
Introductory chapter for the book "Halfmetallic Alloys - Fundamentals and
Applications" to be published in the series Springer Lecture Notes on Physics,
P. H. Dederichs and I. Galanakis (eds). It contains a review of the theoretical
work on the half-metallic Heusler alloys.Comment: Introductory chapter for the book "Halfmetallic Alloys - Fundamentals
and Applications" to be published in the series Springer Lecture Notes on
Physics, P. H. Dederichs and I. Galanakis (eds