The role of interfaces in the magnetoresistance of Au/Fe/Au/Fe/GaAs(001)

被引:19
作者
Enders, A
Monchesky, TL
Myrtle, K
Urban, R
Heinrich, B
Kirschner, J
Zhang, XG
Butler, WH
机构
[1] Simon Fraser Univ, Dept Phys, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, Canada
[2] Max Planck Inst, D-06120 Halle, Germany
[3] Oak Ridge Natl Lab, Oak Ridge, TN 37831 USA
关键词
D O I
10.1063/1.1357844
中图分类号
O59 [应用物理学];
学科分类号
摘要
The electron transport and magnetoresistance (MR) were investigated in high quality crystalline epitaxial Fe(001) and Au(001) films and exchange coupled Au/Fe/Au/Fe/GaAs(001) trilayer structures. Fits to the experimental data were based on the semiclassical Boltzmann equation, which incorporates the electronic properties obtained from first-principles local density functional calculations. The fits require a surprisingly high asymmetry for the spin dependent electron lifetimes in Fe, tau (down arrow)/tau (up arrow) = 10 at room temperature. Despite the large atomic terraces at the Au/vacuum and Fe/GaAs interfaces the scattering at the outer interfaces was found to be diffuse. The origin of MR in Au/Fe/Au/Fe/GaAs(001) structures is due to electron channeling in the Au spacer layer. The measured MR is consistent with the diffusivity parameters s(up arrow) = 0.55, s(down arrow) = 0.77 at the metal-metal interfaces. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.
引用
收藏
页码:7110 / 7112
页数:3
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