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First Principles Calculation of Electrical Conductivity and Giant Magnetoresistance of ColCu Multilayers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2011

W. H. Butler ,
X.-G. Zhang ,
D. M. C. Nicholson  and
J. M. Maclaren
W. H. Butler
Affiliation:
Metals and Ceramics Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-6114
X.-G. Zhang
Affiliation:
Metals and Ceramics Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-6114
D. M. C. Nicholson
Affiliation:
Computational Physics and Engineering Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-6114
J. M. Maclaren
Affiliation:
Department of Physics Tulane University New Orleans, LA 70118
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Abstract

We show that the Kubo formula can be used to calculate the non-local electrical conductivity of layered systems from first principles. We use the Layer Korringa Kohn Rostoker method to calculate the electronic structure and the Green function of Co/Cu/Co trilayers within the local density approximation to density functional theory. This Green function is used to calculate the conductivity through the Kubo formula for both majority and minority spins and for alignment and anti-alignment of the Co moments on either side of the Cu spacer layer. This allows us to determine the giant magnetoresistance from first principles. We investigate three possibilities for the scattering in Co/Cu/Co: (1) equal electron lifetimes for Cu, majority spin Co, and minority spin Co, (2) equal electron lifetimes for majority and minority Co, weaker scattering in Cu and spin dependent interfacial scattering, (3) electron lifetimes for majority and minority spin cobalt proportional to their Fermi energy densities of states and spin dependent interfacial scattering.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 384: Symposium L – Magnetic Ultrathin films, Multilayers and Surfaces , 1995 , 291
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1995

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References

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