PERPENDICULAR TRANSPORT IN METALLIC MULTILAYERS

Perpendicular transport through an interface in the metallic regime is considered. The semiclassical theory presented is based on the Landau er-Buttiker formalism, it generalises previous work by taking into acc ount an effective mass mismatch at the interface and a non-zero averag e of random scattering potentials. The transmission probability for a given mode is found in terms of the effective mass and the conduction band profile to the left and to the right of the interface, the Fermi energy, the self-energy of the electron, and the transverse wave vecto r of the electron. The diffuse and specular contributions to the inter face roughness scattering are shown to be equally important in the wea k scattering limit. Predictions for the transort properties of interfa ces with a low concentration of strongly scattering defects should be accessible to verification by experiments. The theory is applied to th e spin-valve effect in magnetic multilayers.