Relativistic and non-relativistic electron transport in disordered alloys II. Applications to palladium alloyed with copper, silver and gold

Abstract

The residual electrical dc resistivity of the transition-metal alloy systems Cu-Pd, Ag-Pd and Au-Pd was calculated using the Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker coherent-potential approximation for solving the electronic structure problem and the one-electron Kubo-Greenwood formula for the conductivity calculations. All systems were treated on a non-relativistic and a scalar relativistic level in order to be able to assess the importance of some of the relativistic effects. For one alloy system also a fully relativistic calculation was performed, thus allowing us to obtain an estimate of the spin-orbit-induced contributions neglected in the scalar relativistic approach. The calculated concentration-dependent resistivities were compared with the corresponding experimental values. The electrical resistivity (or conductivity) is decomposed into angular momentum and k-resolved quantities. This allows for a discussion of the origin of electronic conduction in the alloys considered. Energy-dependent conductivities with and without vertex corrections permit a discussion of the importance of vertex corrections. The results for the Kubo-Greenwood equation without vertex corrections are compared with results obtained using the semiclassical Boltzmann equation in the relaxation time approximation.