Point Contact Andreev Reflection from Erbium: The role of external magnetic field and the sign of the spin polarization

Point Contact Andreev Reflection has established itself as a technique of choice for the measurement of Fermi level spin polarization in a variety of metallic and degenerate semiconducting materials. So far, the methodology has been limited to determination of the absolute value of the spin polariza...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of applied physics 2012-04, Vol.111 (7), p.07C519-07C519-3
Main Author: Stamenov, P.
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Point Contact Andreev Reflection has established itself as a technique of choice for the measurement of Fermi level spin polarization in a variety of metallic and degenerate semiconducting materials. So far, the methodology has been limited to determination of the absolute value of the spin polarization in zero or small magnetic field. Here an experimental account is presented of the existence of magnetic field and current antisymmetric effects in the PCAR spectra of some Nb/Er contacts. This is hoped to bridge the gap to the neighboring Tedrow-Meservey technique and help in the determination of correct sign and magnitude of the polarization in new and novel materials. The spin polarization of erbium has been determined to be P =+0.58(2).
ISSN:0021-8979
1089-7550
DOI:10.1063/1.3679451