Spin-Disorder Thermal Resistivity of the Ferromagnetic Transition Metals

Abstract

Data of White and Woods for the thermal resistivity $W$ of the transition metals show that $W$ for Fe, Co, and Ni displays an anomalous persistent temperature dependence in the region just below and through the Debye temperature. Since $W$ for the nonferromagnetic transition metals is approximately constant in this region, it is reasonable to attribute the additional temperature dependence to the well-known spin-disorder scattering of conduction electrons. It is shown, however, that a model which treats the magnetic $d$ electrons as localized and neglects $s\ensuremath{-}d$ transitions cannot account for the anomalous behavior of $W$, while a model which treats magnon-induced $s\ensuremath{-}d$ interband transitions presents a plausible explanation.