Ab-initio studies on spin-orbit induced properties of solids and surfaces

CFM Seminars

Speaker

H. Ebert, Universität München, München

When

2014/11/18
17:00

Place

In the Auditorium in the below-ground floor of the Korta building

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Spin-orbit coupling gives rise in magnetic solids to a large number of effects that are at the same time of great scientific as well as technological interest. As examples for this, results of recent investigations based on a fully relativistic Dirac formalism on the magneto-crystalline anisotropy, angle resolved photo emission (ARPES) and the Gilbert damping parameter will be presented. To achieve a coherent treatment of the magnetic anisotropy the Breit interaction was recently included in the underlying Hamiltonian. In this way the spin-orbit induced part of the anisotropy energy as well as the dipolar shape anisotropy are treated on the same quantum mechanical footing. As will be demonstrated for various layered magnetic systems, this approach gives results very similar to the common classical approximation to the shape anisotropy. The magnetization dynamics in magnetic materials is conventionally described in a phenomenological way on the basis of the Landau-Lifshitz- Gilbert (LLG) equation, with the Gilbert damping parameter α representing damping processes. Results of ab-initio calculations of the Gilbert damping parameter and its temperature dependence will be presented and discussed for a number of transition metal systems. Another field that is strongly influenced by spin-orbit coupling is electron spectroscopy where it gives rise to various dichroic and magneto-optical effects. Results of corresponding studies on spin and angle resolved photo emission will be presented that are based on the one-step model of photo emission. As it will be demonstrated, ARPES is especially suited to probe the role of spin-orbit coupling for the electronic structure of Rashba-type systems or topological insulators.