Abstract
We discuss the equilibrium electronic structure of a random binary alloy within the framework of a spin-dependent muffin-tin Hamiltonian. The disorder is treated on the basis of the single-site approximations (SSA), especially the average t-matrix and the coherent potential approximations. The local-spin-density (LSD) functional approach is employed to relate the electron and the spin densities with the atomic potentials, thus providing a fully self-consistent description of the ground-state properties of the random alloy. By using the atomic magnetic moments as expansion parameters, a Stoner-type linearized form of the full SSA-LSD formalism is developed. This analysis yields insights into the nature of the semiphenomenological isotropic Stoner parameter as it enters a proper multiple-scattering treatment of the electron states in perfect crystals and disordered metals. In particular, the exchange splitting of the atomic scattering matrices, rather than that of the energy bands, is seen to play a more fundamental role in the theory. The linearized scheme would permit a significantly simplified self-consistent determination of the possible ferromagnetic instabilities in the ground state in terms of the solutions of the corresponding nonmagnetic problem. A variety of alternative expressions for the electron and spin densities in the alloy, which are useful from the viewpoint of making contact with relevant experiments, are also presented.
Keywords
muffin-tin alloys, multiple-scattering theory, sing-site approximations, electrons, SSA, local spin density, LSD
Subject Categories
Scattering (Physics), Alloys, Magnetism
Disciplines
Physics
Publisher
American Physical Society
Publication Date
7-1-1982
Rights Information
Copyright 1982 American Physical Society.
Rights Holder
American Physical Society
Recommended Citation
Kaprzyk, S. and Bansil, A., "Multiple-scattering theory of itinerant electron magnetism in random muffin-tin alloys" (1982). Physics Faculty Publications. Paper 402.
Click button above to open, or right-click to save.
Notes
Originally published in Physical Review B v.26 (1982): 367-378. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.26.367