Giant magnetoresistance and electronic structure

The electronic structure of magnetic multilayers is expected to play an important role in determining their transport properties. We explain how the conductance through a ballistic point contact is related to simple geometrical projections of the Fermi surface. The essential physics is first discussed for simple model systems and then realistic results for magnetic metallic multilayers based on first principles band structure calculations are presented. The electronic structure is shown to make an important contribution to the perpendicular giant magnetoresistance.