Abstract
To propose a ferromagnet exhibiting a highly spin-polarized transport, we analyze the spin polarization ratio of the bulk Fe4N (Curie temperature: 761 K), which is focused on by taking into account the fact that a ferromagnetic electrode containing Fe and a light element enhances the tunnel magnetoresistance effect at room temperature. The spin polarization ratio is here defined by P = (σ↑-σ↓)/(σ↑+σ↓), with σ↑(σ↓) being the conductivity at zero temperature of up spin (down spin). The conductivity is obtained using the Kubo formula and the Slater-Koster tight binding model, where parameters are determined by fitting the band structure of the model to that of the first principles calculation. In the vicinity of the Fermi energy, |P| takes almost 1.0, which is 5.0 times as large as that of bcc-Fe. It may suggest that Fe4N is very effective as a spin injection electrode. Also, by comparing Fe4N to fcc-Fe in the ferromagnetic state with the equilibrium lattice constant of Fe4N, it is shown that N plays an important role in increasing |P|.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 3303-3306 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Physica Status Solidi (C) Current Topics in Solid State Physics |
Volume | 3 |
Issue number | 9 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2006 Oct 31 |
Event | 4th International Conference on Magnetic and Superconducting Materials, MSM'05 - Agadir, Morocco Duration: 2006 Sep 5 → 2006 Sep 8 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Condensed Matter Physics