Thermal spin-wave scattering in hot-electron magnetotransport across a spin valve

Physical Review Letters

Volumn 85, Issue 15, 2000, Pages 3277-3280

  Jansen, R ^a   Anil Kumar, P S ^a   Van't Erve, O M J ^a   Vlutters, R ^a   De Haan, P ^a   Lodder, J C ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF TWENTE   (Netherlands)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

COBALT; ELECTRON SCATTERING; FERMI LEVEL; FERROMAGNETIC MATERIALS; GOLD; HOT CARRIERS; MAGNETIC FIELD EFFECTS; MAGNETIZATION; MAGNETORESISTANCE; NICKEL ALLOYS; SOFT MAGNETIC MATERIALS; TRANSISTORS;

HOT ELECTRON MAGNETOTRANSPORT; QUASIELASTIC SPIN FLIP SCATTERING; SPIN VALVE TRANSISTOR; THERMAL SPIN WAVE SCATTERING;

ELECTRON TRANSPORT PROPERTIES;

EID: 0034301246     PISSN: 00319007     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.85.3277     Document Type: Article

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21. At finite T, thermally excited spin waves are available for absorption, which strictly speaking, opens up new processes which conserve angular momentum [for instance, the simultaneous emission and absortion of two (different) spin waves, which is possible for hot electrons of either spin]. Such processes are not expected to have any significant spin asymmetry, and are of higher order, giving only a negligible correction to the spin-wave scattering rates.
22. No spin dependence is expected at large enough hot-electron energy. Yet, at energies of about 0.9 eV the density of states of, for example, Co has a spin asymmetry because the energy is below the top of the minority spin d band. If phonons have a sufficient cross section for scattering hot electrons into these minority d states, a spin-dependent phonon scattering rate may be expected. The asymmetry would be of the same sign as that for, e.g., stoner excitations, implying that it would only enhance the MC at higher T. This mechanism is thus not responsible for the observed decay of MC.
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