Electronic structure and magnetic, electrical and optical properties of ferromagnetic Heusler alloys

Abstract

Measurements of the electrical resistivity and the Hall effect of the Heusler alloys NiMnSb, PtMnSb, CoMnSb, AuMnSb, CuMnSb and PtMnSn are reported. The anomalous Hall effect is analyzed in terms of the contributions from skew scattering and side jump. The spin polarization of the charge carriers is proportional to the magnetization. This is an indication that the electronic structure as a function of the temperature is best described by a local band model, with complete spin polarization of charge carriers parallel to the local magnetization at all temperatures. The spin disorder resistivity of NiMnSb is calculated with the local band model. The magneto-optical Kerr effect of PtMnSb is enhanced by the plasma resonance of the charge carriers.