Electrical Resistance of Nickel

Abstract

By using the electronic structure of the Fermi surfaces of nickel, which was evaluated by the authors, and the observed phonon spectrum, the matrix elements of the electron-phonon interaction in nickel are calculated. Then, the absolute value of the electrical resistance is evaluated at 80°K and 1000°K without any adjustable parameters. The calculated value of the resistance is about three times larger than the observed one, without considering screening effects of electrons on the electron-phonon interaction. At low temperatures below 10°K the observed resistance is proportional to T 2 . Here, it is proposed that the conduction electron is scattered to the d -bands with opposite spin orientation by the exchange interaction. This type of interaction gives a resistance proportional to T 2 . Further, the resistance due to this mechanism is roughly estimated. The result seems to be reasonable, so far as the order of the magnitude is concerned.