Is CrO2 Fully Spin Polarized? Analysis of Andreev Spectra and Excess Current

Tomas Löfwander, Roland Grein, and Matthias Eschrig
Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 207001 – Published 10 November 2010

Abstract

We report an extensive theoretical analysis of point-contact Andreev reflection data available in the literature on ferromagnetic CrO2. We find that the spectra can be well understood within a model of fully spin-polarized bands in CrO2 together with spin-active scattering at the contact. This is in contrast to analysis of the data within extended Blonder-Tinkham-Klapwijk models, which lead to a spin polarization varying between 50% and 100% depending on the transparency of the interface. We propose to utilize both the temperature dependence of the spectra and the excess current at voltages above the gap to resolve the spin polarization in CrO2 in a new generation of experiments.

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  • Received 19 July 2010

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.207001

© 2010 The American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Tomas Löfwander1, Roland Grein2, and Matthias Eschrig2,3

  • 1Department of Microtechnology and Nanoscience—MC2, Chalmers University of Technology, SE-412 96 Göteborg, Sweden
  • 2Institut für Theoretische Festköperphysik and DFG-Center for Functional Nanostructures, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, D-76128 Karlsruhe, Germany
  • 3Fachbereich Physik, Universität Konstanz, D-78457 Konstanz, Germany

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Issue

Vol. 105, Iss. 20 — 12 November 2010

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