Ab initio calculation of residual resistivity in dilute Fe alloys and giant magnetoresistance in Fe/Cr multilayers

We report ab initio calculations of transport properties for ferromagnetic dilute alloys and magnetic multilayers. The electronic structure of the considered systems is calculated within the frame of density functional theory using local spin density approximation. The scattering of the electrons by impurities is described self-consistently by means of the Green function of the perturbed system. As a result, the spin anisotropy of the scattering can be discussed without any free parameter. The transport is described quasiclassically. The Boltzmann equation is solved taking into account the anisotropy of the Fermi surface and the anisotropy of the scattering. The method is applied to calculate the residual resistivity of dilute Fe alloys and the giant magnetoresistance of Fe/Cr multilayers.