Spin Polarization And Inelastic Scattering In High And Low Transparency Ferromagnet/Superconductor Point Contacts

For point contact spectroscopy studies of ferromagnet/superconductor charge transport, the effects of spin polarization and inelastic scattering can dominate conductance data. Model calculations show that accurate values of the spin polarization parameter can most easily be determined in high transparency contacts (the ballistic limit) when inelastic scattering is low, and in low transparency contacts (the tunneling limit) when inelastic scattering is high. Comparison with data for both cases will be shown.