Electronic structures and magneto-transport properties of co-based Heusler alloy based magneto-resistance junctions

A direct link between band structure and the ballistic transport property of full-Heusler alloys based Co₂ YZ/Al/Co₂ YZ trilayers (Y = Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn and Fe; Z = Al, Si and Ge) has been studied by firstprinciples calculations. It is found that the transport efficiency is determined primarily by three factors related to band structure: the shape of the band crossing Fermi energy E _F, the distance d of the two intersection points of Co₂ YZ and Al at E _F, and the absolute maximum of the energy lying in the E _F-crossing band, |E_max|. The transmission coefficient distribution patterns imply that the affected factor of magneto-resistance (MR) ratio is attributed to the band features around E _F. In general, an intuitively illustrated diagram is proposed to clarify the relationship between the probability of electron transition and the current magnitude.