PERPENDICULAR TRANSPORT THROUGH ROUGH INTERFACES IN THE METALLIC REGIME

Perpendicular transport through an interface in the metallic regime is considered. The semiclassical theory presented is based on the Landau er-Buttiker formalism taking into account an effective mass mismatch a t the interface and a non-zero average of random scattering potentials . The transmission probability for a given mode is found in terms of t he effective mass and the conduction band bottom to the left and to th e right of the interface, the Fermi energy, the self-energy of the ele ctron, and the transverse wave vector of the electron. The diffuse and specular contributions to the interface roughness scattering are show n to be equally important in the weak scattering limit. Predictions fo r the transport properties of interfaces with a low concentration of s trongly scattering defects should be accessible to verification by exp eriments. The theory is applied to the spin-valve effect in magnetic m ultilayers.