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arXiv · 0711.0872

Half-metallic ferromagnets: From band structure to many-body effects

M. I. Katsnelson·V. Yu. Irkhin·L. Chioncel·A. I. Lichtenstein·R. A. de Groot
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Abstract

A review of new developments in theoretical and experimental electronic structure investigations of half-metallic ferromagnets (HMF) is presented. Being semiconductors for one spin projection and metals for another ones, these substances are promising magnetic materials for applications in spintronics (i.e., spin-dependent electronics). Classification of HMF by the peculiarities of their electronic structure and chemical bonding is discussed. Effects of electron-magnon interaction in HMF and their manifestations in magnetic, spectral, thermodynamic, and transport properties are considered. Especial attention is paid to appearance of non-quasiparticle states in the energy gap, which provide an instructive example of essentially many-body features in the electronic structure. State-of-art electronic calculations for correlated $d$-systems is discussed, and results for specific HMF (Heusler alloys, zinc-blende structure compounds, CrO$_{2},$ Fe$_{3}$O$_{4}$) are reviewed.

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M. I. Katsnelson, V. Yu. Irkhin, L. Chioncel, A. I. Lichtenstein, R. A. de Groot. 2007-11-06. Half-metallic ferromagnets: From band structure to many-body effects. https://doi.org/10.1103/revmodphys.80.315

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