Effects of Ferromagnetic Magnetic Ordering and Phase Transition on the Resistivity of Spin Current

It has been shown experimentally a long time ago that the magnetic ordering causes an anomalous behavior of the electron resistivity in ferromagnetic crystals. Phenomenological explanations based on the interaction between itinerant electron spins and lattice spins have been suggested to explain these observations. We show by extensive Monte Carlo simulation that this behavior is also observed for the resistivity of the spin current calculated as a function of temperature ($T$) from low-$T$ ordered phase to high-$T$ paramagnetic phase in a ferromagnet. We show in particular that across the critical region, the spin resistivity undergoes a huge peak. The origin of this peak is shown to stem from the formation of magnetic domains near the phase transition. The behavior of the resistivity obtained here is compared to experiments and theories. A good agreement is observed.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, accepted, to appear in J. Appl. Phy

A new method of measuring center-of-mass velocities of radially pulsating stars from high-resolution spectroscopy

We present a radial velocity analysis of 20 solar neighborhood RR Lyrae and 3 Population II Cepheids variables. We obtained high-resolution, moderate-to-high signal-to-noise ratio spectra for most stars and obtained spectra were covering different pulsation phases for each star. To estimate the gamma (center-of-mass) velocities of the program stars, we use two independent methods. The first, `classic' method is based on RR Lyrae radial velocity curve templates. The second method is based on the analysis of absorption line profile asymmetry to determine both the pulsational and the gamma velocities. This second method is based on the Least Squares Deconvolution (LSD) technique applied to analyze the line asymmetry that occurs in the spectra. We obtain measurements of the pulsation component of the radial velocity with an accuracy of $\pm$ 3.5 km s$^{-1}$. The gamma velocity was determined with an accuracy $\pm$ 10 km s$^{-1}$, even for those stars having a small number of spectra. The main advantage of this method is the possibility to get the estimation of gamma velocity even from one spectroscopic observation with uncertain pulsation phase. A detailed investigation of the LSD profile asymmetry shows that the projection factor $p$ varies as a function of the pulsation phase -- this is a key parameter which converts observed spectral line radial velocity variations into photospheric pulsation velocities. As a byproduct of our study, we present 41 densely-spaced synthetic grids of LSD profile bisectors that are based on atmospheric models of RR Lyr covering all pulsation phases.Comment: 17 pages, 16 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS; doi:10.1093/mnras/stx294

The Origin of Tunneling Anisotropic Magnetoresistance in Break Junctions

First-principles calculations of electron tunneling transport in Ni and Co break junctions reveal strong dependence of the conductance on the magnetization direction, an effect known as tunneling anisotropic magnetoresistance (TAMR). The origin of this phenomenon stems from resonant states localized in the electrodes near the junction break. The energy and broadening of these states is strongly affected by the magnetization orientation due to spin-orbit coupling, causing TAMR to be sensitive to bias voltage on a scale of a few mV. Our results bear a resemblance to recent experimental data and suggest that TAMR driven by resonant states is a general phenomenon typical for magnetic broken contacts and other experimental geometries where a magnetic tip is used to probe electron transport.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Electrically driven magnetism on a Pd thin film

Using first-principles density functional calculations we demonstrate that ferromagnetism can be induced and modulated on an otherwise paramagnetic Pd metal thin-film surface through application of an external electric field. As free charges are either accumulated or depleted at the Pd surface to screen the applied electric field there is a corresponding change in the surface density of states. This change can be made sufficient for the Fermi-level density of states to satisfy the Stoner criterion, driving a transition locally at the surface from a paramagnetic state to an itinerant ferromagnetic state above a critical applied electric field, Ec. Furthermore, due to the second-order nature of this transition, the surface magnetization of the ferromagnetic state just above the transition exhibits a substantial dependence on electric field, as the result of an enhanced magnetoelectric susceptibility. Using a linearized Stoner model we explain the occurrence of the itinerant ferromagnetism and demonstrate that the magnetic moment on the Pd surface follows a square-root variation with electric field consistent with our first-principles calculations.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figure

Tunnelling magnetoresistance anomalies of a Coulomb blockaded quantum dot

We consider quantum transport and tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) through an interacting quantum dot in the Coulomb blockade regime, attached to ferromagnetic leads. We show that there exist two kinds of anomalies of TMR, which have different origin. One type, associated with TMR sign change and appearing at conductance resonances, is of single particle origin. The second type, inducing a pronounced increase of TMR value far beyond 100%, is caused by electron correlations. It is manifested in-between Coulomb blockade conductance peaks. Both types of anomalies are discussed for zero and finite bias and their robustness to the temperature increase is also demonstrated. The results are presented in the context of recent experiments on semiconductor quantum dots in which similar features of TMR have been observed.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, Revtex style, to appaear in Phys. Rev. B extended discussion added, some typographic errors correcte

Spin Resistivity in Frustrated Antiferromagnets

In this paper we study the spin transport in frustrated antiferromagnetic FCC films by Monte Carlo simulation. In the case of Ising spin model, we show that the spin resistivity versus temperature exhibits a discontinuity at the phase transition temperature: an upward jump or a downward fall, depending on how many parallel and antiparallel localized spins interacting with a given itinerant spin. The surface effects as well as the difference of two degenerate states on the resistivity are analyzed. Comparison with non frustrated antiferromagnets is shown to highlight the frustration effect. We also show and discuss the results of the Heisenberg spin model on the same lattice

Tunnel magnetoresistance and interfacial electronic state

We study the relation between tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) and interfacial electronic states modified by magnetic impurities introduced at the interface of the ferromagnetic tunnel junctions, by making use of the periodic Anderson model and the linear response theory. It is indicated that the TMR ratio is strongly reduced depending on the position of the $d$-levels of impurities, based on reduction in the spin-dependent $s$-electron tunneling in the majority spin state. The results are compared with experimental results for Cr-dusted ferromagnetic tunnel junctions, and also with results for metallic multilayers for which similar reduction in giant magnetoresistance has been reported.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, 2 column revtex4 format, ICMFS 2002 (Kyoto

Magnetism and superconductivity at LAO/STO-interfaces: the role of Ti 3d interface electrons

Ferromagnetism and superconductivity are in most cases adverse. However, recent experiments reveal that they coexist at interfaces of LaAlO3 and SrTiO3. We analyze the magnetic state within density functional theory and provide evidence that magnetism is not an intrinsic property of the two-dimensional electron liquid at the interface. We demonstrate that the robust ferromagnetic state is induced by the oxygen vacancies in SrTiO3- or in the LaAlO3-layer. This allows for the notion that areas with increased density of oxygen vacancies produce ferromagnetic puddles and account for the previous observation of a superparamagnetic behavior in the superconducting state.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Physical Review B (Rapid Communications

Spin Dependence of Interfacial Reflection Phase Shift at Cu/Co Interface

The spin dependent reflection at the interface is the key element to understand the spin transport. By completely solving the scattering problem based on first principles method, we obtained the spin resolved reflectivity spectra. The comparison of our theoretical results with experiment is good in a large energy scale from Fermi level to energy above vacuum level. It is found that interfacial distortion is crucial for understanding the spin dependence of the phase gain at the Cu$|$Co interface. Near the Fermi level, image state plays an important role to the phase accumulation in the copper film.Comment: 6 papges, 3 figures, accepted by Physical Review