de Haas—van Alphen Effect and Electronic Band Structure of Nickel

Abstract

We present here a de Haas-van Alphen (DHVA) investigation of nickel utilizing low-frequency field-modulation techniques in magnetic fields extending to 38 kG and at temperatures down to 0.3°K. Two distinct sets of DHVA-frequency branches were obtained with the magnetic field in either the ($1\overline{1}0$) or the (100) crystallographic symmetry plane. The assignment of these to sheets of the nickel Fermi surface is discussed in terms of the general features of band-structure models recently proposed for ferromagnetic nickel. The low-frequency branches are assigned to the [111]-directed necks of the spin-$\uparrow$ $s$-band electron sheet. The high-frequency branches are shown to arise from a $d$-band hole pocket derived from a pure $X_5$ level in the spin-$\downarrow$ band. No evidence was obtained for $d$-band hole pockets derived from the $X_2\downarrow$ and $L_3\downarrow$ levels. Since the singal-to-noise ratio for detecting the high-frequency branches was large, the fact that we did not observe any DHVA oscillations assignable to either the $X_2\downarrow$ or $L_3\downarrow$ pockets makes their existence doubtful.