Spin-flip scattering and band structure mismatch effect on transport of pure spin across ferromagnetic semimetal/metal material interfaces

• The conductance spectra and spin polarization of conductance spectra of a FSM/M junction were calculated.
• The normal and spin-flip scattering potentials at the interfaces were included.
• The results show a method to generate a high spin polarization of the conductance.

The tunneling conductance spectra of a ferromagnetic semimetal/metal junction, where there were electrons and holes with the same spin directions as the essential conducting particle, was theoretically studied based on a scattering approach in a ballistic regime. The main area of interest was to perform a high spin polarization by considering the effect of the interfacial scattering at the interface that was composed of normal and spin-flip scattering, the particle effective mass mismatch on the reflection and transmission probabilities, and spin polarization of conductance. It was found that the spin polarization of conductance decreased with increasing spin-flip scattering. Interestingly, the normal scattering can cause the spin polarization of the conductance to reach a maximum value in the presence of both kinds of scattering. When the particle effective mass mismatch was considered, the spin polarization of conductance was large when the electron effective mass in the valence band was smaller than that in the conduction band. However, in this calculation, the results of a ferromagnetic semimetal/metal junction behaved similarly to those of a ferromagnetic metal/metal junction.