First-principles study of quantum-transport properties of Fe/Fe₂VAl/Fe trilayers: Design for confined k-space current-perpendicular-to-plane giant-magnetoresistance

Abstract

The electronic structure and quantum-transport properties of Fe/Fe2VAl/Fe trilayers were investigated by using first-principles calculations. The high-transmission area in k-space can be confined by using a semimetallic Fe2VAl layer. The confined k-space originates from the small Fermi surface of Fe2VAl. Moreover, the symmetry matching of wave functions between the leads and space of the trilayer around the Fermi level is a significant factor in regard to designing confined-k-space current-perpendicular-to-plane giant-magnetoresistance (CPP-GMR) device, which is a promising candidate to provide a resistance area (RA) product that is difficult to achieve by using conventional insulators and metals.

Ferromagnetically correlated clusters in semimetallic Ru2NbAl Heusler alloy and its thermoelectric properties

“…Pristine Heusler alloys display ZT ∼10 −3 at RT whereas careful doping, leads for instance, to ZT ∼0.2 in Fe 2 V 0.9 W 0.1 Al [20]. Heusler alloys with VEC 24 are also considered for applications such as the magnetic information storage where they could play the role of a thin non-magnetic buffer layer sandwiched between two ferromagnetic thin layers of Heusler alloy acting as a spin polarizer in a recording head [21,22].…”

Epitaxial Mn2VAl films with L21-ordered structure for all-Heusler stacks

“…4(c). To realize high-performance CPP-GMR devices due to the band symmetry and Fermi surface matching [19,67,68], improvement of the crystal quality of the trilayer and reduction of the Fe 2 VAl spacer layer thickness should be investigated.…”