Interplay of the specular and diffuse scattering at interfaces of magnetic multilayers

Abstract

Both specular and diffuse scattering at interfaces of magnetic multilayers play a significant role in their resistivity and magnetoresistance. Within the framework of the semiclassical Boltzmann approach, we show that the resistance across an interface for currents perpendicular to the plane of the layers is sensitive to the nature of the scattering and that perturbative treatments of diffuse interface scattering break down. Depending on reflection coefficients diffuse scattering can assist or suppress conduction across interfaces.