When measured spin polarization is not spin polarization

Authors

Peter A. Dowben, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Ning Wu, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Christian Binek, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

4-2011

Comments

Published in JOURNAL OF PHYSICS: CONDENSED MATTER 23 (2011) 171001 (3pp) doi:10.1088/0953-8984/23/17/171001 Copyright 2011 IOP Publishing Ltd. Used by permission. http://stacks.iop.org/JPhysCM/23/171001

Abstract

Spin polarization is an unusually ambiguous scientific idiom and, as such, is rarely well defined. A given experimental methodology may allow one to quantify a spin polarization but only in its particular context. As one might expect, these ambiguities sometimes give rise to inappropriate interpretations when comparing the spin polarizations determined through different methods. The spin polarization of CrO₂ and Cr₂O₃ illustrate some of the complications which hinders comparisons of spin polarization values.