Ballistic electron transport through magnetic domain walls

TL;DR

This paper calculates ballistic electron transport through magnetic domain walls in ferromagnets, showing that realistic band structures significantly increase magnetoresistance, especially with nano-structured confinement.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed calculation of electron transport through domain walls using realistic band structures, revealing enhanced magnetoresistance effects.

Findings

Realistic band structures greatly increase domain wall magnetoresistance.

Nano-structuring domain walls can significantly enhance magnetoresistance.

Ballistic transport models predict strong effects in ferromagnetic nanostructures.

Abstract

Electron transport limited by the rotating exchange-potential of domain walls is calculated in the ballistic limit for the itinerant ferromagnets Fe, Co, and Ni. When realistic band structures are used, the domain wall magnetoresistance is enhanced by orders of magnitude compared to the results for previously studied two-band models. Increasing the pitch of a domain wall by confinement in a nano-structured point contact is predicted to give rise to a strongly enhanced magnetoresistance.