Abstract
We present a theoretical study of the spin transport properties of monoatomic magnetic chains with a focus on the spectroscopical features of the - curve associated with spin-flip processes. Our calculations are based on the - model for magnetism with the electron transport treated at the level of the nonequilibrium Green’s function formalism. Inelastic spin-flip scattering processes are introduced perturbatively via the first Born approximation, and an expression for the associated self-energy is derived. The computational method is then applied to describe the - characteristics and its derivatives of one-dimensional chains of Mn atoms, and the results are then compared to available experimental data. We find a qualitative and quantitative agreement between the calculated and the experimental conductance spectra. Significantly we are able to describe the relative intensities of the spin excitation features in the - curve, by means of a careful analysis of the spin transition selection rules associated with the atomic chains.
- Received 15 March 2011
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.84.035427
©2011 American Physical Society