Phonon Transmission by bcc Sandwich Layers in Fe/Co/Fe and Co/Fe/Co Systems

Abstract

A calculation of the coherent and ballistic phonon transport via thin nanojunctions between bcc lattices is presented. The model system A/B/A consists of a finite number of bcc (001) atomic layers of an element B sandwiched between two bcc semi-infinite crystal lattices of another element A oriented in the same (001) plane. It is applied to the Fe/Co/Fe nanojunction and to the inverse Co/Fe/Co nanojunction. The theoretical calculations of the ballistic phonon transmission via the nanojunction are carried out using the matching method. The possible experimental measurements of this ballistic transmission in comparison with theoretical results should be a useful probe for the determination of alloying force constants across the interface between two such elements. The full bcc dynamics of this system is under study.