TY - JOUR
T1 - Structural, electronic, and magnetic properties of Au/Cr/Au(001) sandwiches
T2 - Theoretical total-energy studies
AU - Fu, C. L.
AU - Freeman, Arthur J
PY - 1986
Y1 - 1986
N2 - All-electron total-energy local-density studies of the structural, electronic, and magnetic properties of ordered Au/Cr/Au(001) sandwiches were undertaken to understand the report of superconductivity and the induced structural modification of Cr(001) by Au overlayers by Brodsky et al. These self-consistent spin-polarized calculations were carried out using the all-electron full-potential linearized-augmented-plane-wave method. Predicted structural properties, magnetic properties, charge and spin densities, contact hyperfine fields, and single-particle spectra are presented and discussed. The Cr lattice is found to be the same as in its bulk bcc environment. The Au-Cr interlayer spacing is expanded by about 3% with respect to the average of the bulk Au fcc and Cr bcc spacings; this expansion is mostly due to the formation of magnetic order at the interface. An enhancement of the Cr magnetic moment at the interface (to 1.55B) is predicted, which while 0.94B less than that found for the surface layer in Cr(001), indicates the persistence of Cr surface states near EF at the interface with the Au overlayers. These surface states, however, become more delocalized by their hybridization with the low-lying Au d band. Both the bcc structure of Cr layers and the magnetic character of the interface Cr states argue against models proposed previously for the occurrence of superconductivity. We conclude that superconductivity is not a property for ordered Au/Cr/Au(001) sandwiches but that disorder may play some role.
AB - All-electron total-energy local-density studies of the structural, electronic, and magnetic properties of ordered Au/Cr/Au(001) sandwiches were undertaken to understand the report of superconductivity and the induced structural modification of Cr(001) by Au overlayers by Brodsky et al. These self-consistent spin-polarized calculations were carried out using the all-electron full-potential linearized-augmented-plane-wave method. Predicted structural properties, magnetic properties, charge and spin densities, contact hyperfine fields, and single-particle spectra are presented and discussed. The Cr lattice is found to be the same as in its bulk bcc environment. The Au-Cr interlayer spacing is expanded by about 3% with respect to the average of the bulk Au fcc and Cr bcc spacings; this expansion is mostly due to the formation of magnetic order at the interface. An enhancement of the Cr magnetic moment at the interface (to 1.55B) is predicted, which while 0.94B less than that found for the surface layer in Cr(001), indicates the persistence of Cr surface states near EF at the interface with the Au overlayers. These surface states, however, become more delocalized by their hybridization with the low-lying Au d band. Both the bcc structure of Cr layers and the magnetic character of the interface Cr states argue against models proposed previously for the occurrence of superconductivity. We conclude that superconductivity is not a property for ordered Au/Cr/Au(001) sandwiches but that disorder may play some role.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0000518751&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0000518751&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1103/PhysRevB.33.1611
DO - 10.1103/PhysRevB.33.1611
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0000518751
VL - 33
SP - 1611
EP - 1620
JO - Physical Review B-Condensed Matter
JF - Physical Review B-Condensed Matter
SN - 1098-0121
IS - 3
ER -