Abstract
Employing the LMTO band method, we have studied electronic and magnetic properties of Fe/Si/Fe trilayer in which the z-direction is chosen to be (111) direction of FeSi with B2 phase, We have also determined electronic structure of bulk FeSi, as a reference material. The ground state of FeSi is paramagnetic insulator with a band gap of 0.05 eV. Band structures of Fe/Si/Fe with varying the thickness of the spacer layer reveal that the spacer layer is metallic, and the states along the growth direction do not disperse much reflecting a two-dimensional nature. Magnetic moment of Fe atom in the interfacial layer of Fe/Si/Fe is reduced a lot as compared to the bulk value, suggesting a strong hybridization between Fe and Si states. The geometry of the Fermi surface indicates that the magnetic coupling period of ~8ML (monolayers) in Fe/Si/Fe is explained with a short Fermi wave vector of bcc Si.
