arXiv subjects

Hubert Ebert

Publications and source records attributed to Hubert Ebert.

71 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2016

Trends in magnetism of free Rh clusters via relativistic ab-initio calculations

A fully relativistic ab-initio study on free Rh clusters of 13-135 atoms is performed to identify general trends concerning their magnetism and to check whether concepts which proved to be useful in interpreting magnetism of 3d metals are applicable to magnetism of 4d systems. We found that there is no systematic relation between local magnetic moments and coordination numbers. On the other hand, the Stoner model appears well-suited both as a criterion for the onset of magnetism and as a guide for the dependence of local magnetic moments on the site-resolved density of states at the Fermi level. Large orbital magnetic moments antiparallel to spin magnetic moments were found for some sites. The intra-atomic magnetic dipole Tz term can be quite large at certain sites but as a whole it is unlikely to affect the interpretation of x-ray magnetic circular dichroism experiments based on the sum rules.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2016

Theoretical study on the anisotropic electronic structure of antiferromagnetic BaFe$_2$As$_2$ and Co-doped Ba(Fe$_{1-x}$Co$_x$)$_2$As$_2$ seen by angle-resolved photoemission

By means of one-step model calculations the strong in-plane anisotropy seen in angle-resolved photoemission of the well-known iron pnictide prototype compounds BaFe$_2$As$_2$ and Ba(Fe$_{1-x}$Co$_x$)$_2$As$_2$ in their low-temperature antiferromagnetic phases is investigated. The fully-relativistic calculations are based on the Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker-Green function approach combined with the coherent potential approximation alloy theory to account for the disorder induced by Co substitution on Fe sites in a reliable way. The results of the calculations can be compared directly to experimental spectra of detwinned single crystals. One finds very good agreement with experiment and can reveal all features of the electronic structure contributing to the in-plane anisotropy. In particular the local density approximation can capture most of the correlation effects for the investigated system without the need for more advanced techniques. In addition, the evolution of the anisotropy for increasing Co concentration $x$ in Ba(Fe$_{1-x}$Co$_x$)$_2$As$_2$ can be tracked almost continuously. The results are also used to discuss surface effects and it is possible to identify clear signatures to conclude about different types of surface termination.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2015

Multiferroic heterostructures for spin filter application - an ab initio study

Novel imaging spin-filter techniques, which are based on low energy electron diffraction, are currently of high scientific interest. To improve the spin-detection efficiency a variety of new materials have been introduced in recent years. A new class of promising spin-filter materials are represented by multiferroic systems, as both magnetic and electric ordering exist in these materials. We have investigated Fe/BaTiO3(001), which defines a prominent candidate due to its moderate spontaneous polarization, for spin filter applications calculating diffraction patterns for spin polarized electrons incident on the Fe surface. Motivated by the fact that spin polarized low energy electron diffraction is a powerful method for the determination of the properties of surfaces we investigated the influence of switching the BaTiO3 polarization on the exchange and spin orbit scattering as well as on reflectivity and figure of merit. This system obviously offers the possibility to realize a multiferroic spin filter and manipulating the spin-orbit and exchange scattering by an external electric field. The calculations have been done for a large range of kinetic energies and polar angles of the diffracted electrons considering different numbers of Fe monolayers.

physics.comp-ph↗

arXiv2015

Symmetry-imposed shape of linear response tensors

A scheme suggested in the literature to determine the symmetry-imposed shape of linear response tensors is revised and extended to allow for the treatment of more complex situations. The extended scheme is applied to discuss the shape of the spin conductivity tensor for all magnetic space groups. This allows in particular investigating the character of longitudinal as well as transverse spin transport for arbitrary crystal structure and magnetic order that give rise e.g.\ to the spin Hall, Nernst and the spin-dependent Seebeck effects. In addition we draw attention to a new longitudinal spin transport phenomenon occurring in certain nonmagnetic solids.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2015

Electron-electron interaction strength in ferromagnetic nickel determined by spin-polarized positron annihilation

The two-photon momentum distribution of annihilating electron-positron pairs in ferromagnetic nickel (Ni) was determined by measuring the spin-polarized two-dimensional angular correlation of annihilation radiation (ACAR). The spectra were compared with theoretical results obtained within LDA+DMFT, a combination of the local density approximation (LDA) and the many-body dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT). The self-energy describing the electronic correlations in Ni is found to make important anisotropic contributions to the momentum distribution which are not present in LDA. Based on a detailed comparison of the theoretical and experimental results the strength of the local electronic interaction U in ferromagnetic Ni is determined as 2.0 +- 0.1 eV.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2015

Skew scattering in dilute ferromagnetic alloys

The challenging problem of skew scattering for Hall effects in dilute ferromagnetic alloys, with intertwined effects of spin-orbit coupling, magnetism and impurity scattering, is studied here from first principles. Our main aim is to identify chemical trends and work out simple rules for large skew scattering in terms of the impurity and host states at the Fermi surface, with particular emphasis on the interplay of the spin and anomalous Hall effects in one and the same system. The predicted trends are benchmarked by referring to three different \emph{ab initio} methods based on different approximations with respect to the electronic structure and transport properties.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2014

Theoretical investigation of the electronic and magnetic properties of the orthorhombic phase of Ba(Fe$_{1-x}$Co$_x$)$_2$As$_2$

We present a comprehensive study on the low-temperature orthorhombic phase of Ba(Fe$_{1-x}$Co$_x$)$_2$As$_2$ based on the Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker-Green function approach. Using this bandstructure method in combination with the coherent potential approximation alloy theory we are able to investigate the evolution of the magnetic and electronic properties of this prototype iron pnictide for arbitrary concentrations $x$, while dealing with the chemical disorder without uncontrolled simplifications by using solely a rigid band shift or the virtual crystal approximation. We discuss the development of the site resolved magnetic moments for the experimentally observed stripe antiferromagnetic order together with the strong electronic anisotropy of the Fermi surface and compare it with angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements of detwinned crystals. We furthermore calculate magnetic exchange coupling parameters $J_{ij}$ and use them for Monte-Carlo simulations on the basis of the classical Heisenberg model to get an insight on the temperature dependence of the magnetic ordering on the cobalt concentration.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2014

Magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy for adatoms and monolayers on non-magnetic substrates: where does it comes from?

The substrate contribution to the magnetic anisotropy energy (MAE) of supported nanostructures can be quantified by a site-selective manipulation of the spin-orbit coupling (SOC) and the effective exchange field B_ex. A systematic study of Co adatoms and Co monolayers on the (111) surfaces of Cu, Ag, Au, Pd and Pt is performed to study common trends in this class of materials. It is found that for adatoms, the substrate contribution is relatively small (10-30% of the MAE) while for monolayers, the substrate contribution can be substantial. The contribution from the SOC is much more important than the contribution from the exchange field B_ex, except for highly polarizable substrates with a strong SOC (such as Pt). The substrate always promotes the tendency to an out-of-plane orientation of the easy magnetic axis for all the investigated systems.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2013

Insight into the skew-scattering mechanism of the spin Hall effect: potential scattering versus spin-orbit scattering

We present a detailed analysis of the skew-scattering contribution to the spin Hall conductivity using an extended version of the resonant scattering model of Fert and Levy [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 106}, 157208 (2011)]. For $5d$ impurities in a Cu host, the proposed phase shift model reproduces the corresponding first-principles calculations. Crucial for that agreement is the consideration of two scattering channels related to $p$ and $d$ impurity states, since the discussed mechanism is governed by a subtle interplay between the spin-orbit and potential scattering in both angular-momentum channels. It is shown that the potential scattering strength plays a decisive role for the magnitude of the spin Hall conductivity.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2013

On the origin of the giant SHE in Cu(Bi) alloys

Two years after the prediction of a giant spin Hall effect for the dilute Cu(Bi) alloy [Gradhand et al., Phys. Rev. B 81, 245109 (2010)], a comparably strong effect was measured in thin films of Cu(Bi) alloys by Niimi et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 156602 (2012)]. Both theory and experiment consider the skew-scattering mechanism to be responsible, however they obtain opposite sign for the spin Hall angle. Based on a detailed analysis of existing theoretical results, we explore differences between theory and experiment.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2013

Co monolayers and adatoms on Pd(100), Pd(111) and Pd(110): Anisotropy of magnetic properties

We investigate to what extent the magnetic properties of deposited nanostructures can be influenced by selecting as a support different surfaces of the same substrate material. Fully relativistic ab initio calculations were performed for Co monolayers and adatoms on Pd(100), Pd(111), and Pd(110) surfaces. Changing the crystallographic orientation of the surface has a moderate effect on the spin magnetic moment and on the number of holes in the d band, a larger effect on the orbital magnetic moment but sometimes a dramatic effect on the magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy (MAE) and on the magnetic dipole term T_alpha. The dependence of T_alpha on the magnetization direction alpha can lead to a strong apparent anisotropy of the spin magnetic moment as deduced from the X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) sum rules. For systems in which the spin-orbit coupling is not very strong, the T_alpha term can be understood as arising from the differences between components of the spin magnetic moment associated with different magnetic quantum numbers m.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2012

Impact of correlations and finite temperatures on the anomalous Hall conductivity of 3d-transition-metals

Employing the linear response Kubo formalism as implemented in a fully relativistic multiple-scattering Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker Green function method a systematic first-principles study based on density-functional theory (DFT) of the anomalous Hall conductivity (AHC) of the 3$d$-transition-metals Fe, Co and Ni is presented. To account for the temperature dependence of the AHC an alloy-analogy for a set of thermal lattice displacements acting as a scattering mechanism is used which is subsequently solved using the coherent potential approximation. Further, impurity scattering has been considered to elucidate the importance of an additional possible contribution to the AHC that might be present in experiment. The impact of correlations beyond the local spin-density approximation to the exchange-correlation functional in DFT is studied within the LSDA+$U$ approach. It is shown that both, the inclusion of correlations and thermal lattice vibrations, is needed to give a material-specific description of the AHC in transition-metals.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2012

Topological phase transition induced by random substitution

The transition from topologically nontrivial to a trivial state is studied by first-principles calculations on bulk zinc-blende type (Hg$_{1-x}$Zn$_x$)(Te$_{1-x}$S$_x$) disordered alloy series. The random chemical disorder was treated by means of the Coherent Potential Approximation. We found that although the phase transition occurs at the strongest disorder regime (${x\approx 0.5}$), it is still manifested by well-defined Bloch states forming a clear Dirac cone at the Fermi energy of the bulk disordered material. The computed residual resistivity tensor confirm the topologically-nontrivial state of the HgTe-rich (${x<0.5}$), and the trivial state of the ZnS-rich alloy series (${x>0.5}$) by exhibiting the quantized behavior of the off-diagonal spin-projected component, independently on the concentration $x$.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2011

Surface spin polarization of the non-stoichiometric Heusler compound Co2Mn(alpha)Si

Using a combined approach of spin-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, band structure and photoemission calculations we investigate the influence of bulk defects and surface states on the spin polarization of Co2Mn(alpha)Si thin films with bulk L21 order. We find that for Mn-poor alloys the spin polarization at EF is negative due to the presence of Co_Mn antisite and minority surface state contributions. In Mn-rich alloys, the suppression of Co(Mn) antisites leads to a positive spin polarization at the Fermi energy, and the influence of minority surface states on the photoelectron spin polarization is reduced.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2010

Complex magnetic behavior and high spin polarization in Fe(3-x)Mn(x)Si alloys

Fe3Si is a ferromagnetic material with possible applications in magnetic tunnel junctions. When doped with Mn, the material shows a complex magnetic behavior, as suggested by older experiments. We employed the Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker (KKR) Green function method within density-functional theory (DFT) in order to study the alloy Fe(3-x)Mn(x)Si, with 0 < x < 1. Chemical disorder is described within the coherent potential approximation (CPA). In agreement with experiment, we find that the Mn atoms align ferromagnetically to the Fe atoms, and that the magnetization and Curie temperature drop with increasing Mn-concentration $x$. The calculated spin polarization P at the Fermi level varies strongly with x, from P=-0.3 at x=0 (ordered Fe3Si) through P=0 at x=0.28, to P=+1 for x>0.75; i.e., at high Mn concentrations the system is half-metallic. We discuss the origin of the trends of magnetic moments, exchange interactions, Curie temperature and the spin polarization.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2010

Spin Hall effect of alloys: Extrinsic and intrinsic contribution

A fully relativistic description of the spin-orbit induced spin Hall effect is presented that is based on Kubo's linear response formalism. Using an appropriate operator for the spin current density a Kubo-Středa-like equation for the spin Hall conductivity (SHC) is obtained. An implementation using the Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker (KKR) band structure method in combination with the Coherent Potential Approximation (CPA) allow detailed investigations on various alloy systems. A decomposition of the SHC into intrinsic and extrinsic contributions is suggested. Accompanying calculations for the skew-scattering contribution of the SHC using the Boltzmann equation demonstrate the equivalence to the Kubo formalism in the dilute alloy regime and support the suggested decomposition scheme.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2006

Inverted spin polarization of Heusler alloys for new spintronic devices

A new magnetic logic overcomes the major limitations of field programmable gate arrays while having a 50% smaller unit cell than conventional designs utilizing magnetic tunnel junctions with one Heusler alloy electrode. These show positive and negative TMR values at different bias voltages at room temperature which generally adds an additional degree of freedom to all spintronic devices.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗