Department of Physics and Astronomy: Publications and Other Research
Date of this Version
March 2008
Abstract
The temperature dependence of the spin polarization of half-metallic ferromagnets is investigated by model calculations. Emphasis is on changes in the density of states, especially on the closure of the hybridization gap. The Stoner-type calculation yields a simple one-electron expression for the gap as a function of temperature and a corresponding transition temperature T*, above which the spin polarization is drastically reduced. The small parameter determining the finite-temperature breakdown of the spin splitting is the width of the hybridization gap relative to other bandwidth parameters. The model predictions are consistent with the experiment and with first-principles electronic structure calculations, and we argue that such band-structure effects are not limited to specific materials but rather widespread in hybridization-gap half-metals.
Comments
Published in JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS 103, 07D714 (2008). Copyright © 2008 American Institute of Physics. Used by permission.